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Owen said:
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tsg68 said:
One problem with the article though, what states allow machine guns without a extremely difficult to get and expensive federal class III license again? last time I checked it was oh, I don't know, 0, nada, the big goose egg, zilch!
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It said they were legal. And with a license, they are (in over 40 states).
Kind of like driving a car is legal...with a license /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And it's just a one-time transfer fee, though the paperwork is probably more of a pain than the fee.
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They are legal in technicality only. It is more an exception than a rule. Since the approval of the application ($200 per weapon, application submitted upon purchase of arms and possession only upon approval) lies with your local felony jurisdiction (usually your local PD), unless you can prove you are an investment grade collector of historic military arms, a noted historian of arms, are a dealer, property master or exhibitor of collectible class III arms, are involved in manufacture of components for class III arms or practice private training with such arms or are simply military or LEO your chances of approval are extremely thin as denial seems as easy as them saying "you don't need one". You don't simply take a test and pass or fail, you are background checked time and again, evaluated time and again, and deemed worthy or not worthy. Not to mention if you are granted a license you end up with the FBI the Secret Service and the ATF as your new buddies for as long as you possess the weapon. The permit is required to remain with the weapon and you are subject to routine and some random inspections to determine the maintained existence and conditions of storage of the firearm(s) accessories and ammunition, your personal fitness to remain licensed, etc. The only way around the local jurisdiction approval is to incorporate and declare the purchase of the weapons as investment assets of the corporate entity (which some high end collectors do). Also you can only purchase Automatic weapons manufactured before 1986, current and post '86 manufactured fully automatic arms are completely illegal for possession by citizens. Since there are a finite number of guns in the class III market their is a high demand and a high premium paid, due to collectibility, that would place them outside most peoples budgets anyhow. So it is really much more than the fact that they are technically legal. Basically they are illegal with exception, I always try not to let the "facts" obscure the truth.
Thanks for the compliment, Brightnorm!
TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif