Pathetic... Even The 'Democratic Underground' Is Afraid Of The NRA

[AtheistCrusader]

52. Not legally.

Fully automatic weapons have been tightly regulated since 1934. Every time they change hands, there is a 200$ tax assessed, the weapons are ALL registered, change of hands is accompanied by a full background check, not just a NICS instant check, and the BATFE may show up and check up on them at the registered address for any reason.

Since the registry was closed in 1986, no new legal fully automatic weapons manufactured after 1986 can be registered, so the pool of fully automatic weapons in circulation is finite, meaning, my 1986 AR-15 is worth about 800$, but a registered M-16 from the same year is worth over $20,000, and cannot be replaced. There is no material basis for the difference in cost, as the two weapons from the same date have mostly interchangeable parts. (After 1986, this is no longer true due to a law that required all new weapons sold NOT be easily converted to full automatic)

Only one legally owned/registered fully automatic weapon has ever been used in a crime. (It was used by an off-duty police officer, as he murdered his wife)

There do exist illegal fully automatic weapons that change hands in the black markets. They are stolen, smuggled into the country, made by hand in the country, or were never registered when the registry was created in 1934, and now, cannot be registered, even if discovered in a box great-grandpa left in a box in the attic, and died 90 years prior.