Since 1934, only two homocides have been linked to legally owned machine gun, and one was committed by a law enforcement officer, as opposed to a civilian (Zawitz, Marianne,Bureau of Justice Statistics, Guns Used in Crime). About half are owned by civilians and the other half by government agencies. As of 1995, there were over 240,000 machine guns registered by the BATFE nationwide. However, legal machine guns are never misused. Machine guns are an investment you can cherish, enjoy shooting, and pass on to future generations.Īren’t these guns dangerous? Well, like any firearm, they can be misused. In hard times, they may even be worth more. Unlike stock, bonds, and mutual funds it’s highly unlikely that it will ever be worthless. For instance, a transferable MP5 might sell for $15,000 now, they typically sold for $5000 or less ten years ago. The supply of ‘transferable’ machineguns is fixed by the 1986 ban, and the demand by people who want to own and shoot them is steadily increasing. So, how can machineguns be a great investment? It’s as simple as supply and demand. These machine guns are commonly called “transferables.” There is, however, over a quarter million existing “pre-May” machineguns that are perfectly legal to purchase. Any guns manufactured and registered with BATFE after May of 1986 cannot be sold or possessed by individual citizens. This law banned the manufacture, import, and sale of new machineguns to civilians. (Sounds like a good thing, right?) Wrong. The reason for this is that in 1986, Congress passed the Firearms Owner’s Protection Act. In fact, macihineguns are a very wise and lucrative investment. There is no blanket law that prevent private ownership of machineguns. Machineguns are certainly the most fun and most collectible firearms you can own. In most states, if you qualify to own a handgun, you are qualified to own a machinegun. Unless you live in one of the few states that prohibit machineguns (listed below) or are a convicted felon you can legally own a fully automatic machine gun. I merely wanted to help those who may be under the impression that you can walk into a local gun shop and purchase a fully automatic firearm understand that it just isn't so.Article: "So You Want to Buy a Transferable Machine Gun." the "Bump Stock", is a debate for another post.
Whether or not the government should ban devices that enable a semi-automatic rifle, such as an AR-15, to operate more akin to a machine gun, i.e. Because of this limited number of transferable weapons, they are quite expensive, and most end up in the hands of collectors where they are kept under lock and key. While fully automatic weapons still exist in the public, they are very limited in number. Even these people with and FFL can only have a limited number of "dealer samples." That is because any machine gun manufactured after may only be sold to law enforcement or military-NO EXCEPTIONS. Newly manufactured machine guns, which are much cheaper, can only be possessed by licensed gun dealers or manufacturers who have a Federal Firearms Class 3 license. Only after passing the background check, paying the $200 tax stamp fee, and getting the chief local law enforcement officer to sign off on the sale, may you then receive the firearm. This process usually takes 9 months to a year. Not only does the expense of these firearms make them largely unattainable by most individuals, in order to purchase one, you must pass a thorough background check with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). A quick look at online sales websites such as will show that these firearms are greatly expensive-often more than $15,000. The only "legally transferable" machine guns the general public may possess are those manufactured and registered prior to May 19, 1986.
While it appears that the Vegas shooting was done using modified semi-automatic weapons, I am writing only to address the restrictions in place upon true fully automatic machine guns.Ĭurrently, the National Firearms Act (NFA) makes possession of fully automatic machine guns illegal under most circumstances. With the recent, tragic shootings perpetrated by sub-human individuals like those that took place Las Vegas and Orlando, there has been a great deal of discussion regarding the apparent availability of automatic weapons.