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As long as you pay the tax and meet the other requirements there is no federal machine gun ban. People buy and sell them all the time, LEGALLY with the full knowledge and CONSENT of the feds.

I think that's only true for weapons that were lawfully possessed before the 1986 ban. Am I reading it wrong?

18 USC 922(o)
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun.
(2) This subsection does not apply with respect to -
(A) a transfer to or by, or possession by or under the authority of, the United States or any department or agency thereof or a State, or a department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or
(B) any lawful transfer or lawful possession of a machinegun that was lawfully possessed before the date this subsection takes effect.

Problem is...
- the $200 tax is as much as many machineguns should cost
- due to the limited supply (no new MGs), the $200 tax gets passed on to the next purchaser (buyer pays the tax for every prior owner)
- due to the limited supply (no new MGs), the base price has increased an order of magnitude (a price-it-out-of-existance legal effect)
- many chief LEOs refuse to sign the paperwork, voiding the transfer
- the 10-years-in-prison-and-$250,000-fine punishment for even a minor goof in paperwork severly chills the exercise of the "right"
- processing the paperwork can take 6 months

Yeah, technically MGs are still legal in the majority of states. That technicality is a perversion: the law is designed to satisfy the "right" yet severely discourage the exercise thereof. It's sorta like a poll tax & test: just answer these "simple" questions and pay this "small" fee and we'll let you vote...gosh, amazing how many people suddenly don't want to exercise their right to vote, I wonder why...