General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Would you support repeal of the Second Amendment? [View all]Johnny Rico
(1,438 posts)CA, DE, DC, HI, NY, WA.
As for ownership...there's a lot of paperwork involved. If you can legally own a pistol, you should be able to own a machine gun. You have to get an approval from your local law enforcement official, and then send a bunch of forms to the Feds at the BATFE, along with a $200 fee. 6 to 9 months later, the paperwork comes back and you can then pick up your machine gun from the dealer (which you actually paid for 6 to 9 months ago!)
As a practical matter, though, machine guns are out of the reach of most shooters. Congress passed a law in 1986 prohibiting the manufacture of new machine guns for civilian ownership, thus fixing the supply. The machine guns made prior to 1986 have gone up in value by a factor of 10 to 20 times. The cheapest machine guns out there run thousands of dollars, with nicer ones costing tens of thousands.
The same procedure is used to purchase a silencer, which I did just last year. I paid for it (cost $500), filled out the paperwork, sent in the fee, and was able to pick it up 8 months later. I'll have to admit that in this case I bought it pretty much because it's just so freaking cool. It's fun to be able to shoot without ear protection.
Amusing anecdote time: On the form for the silencer there's a space, "reason for purchase". On the advice of the dealer I wrote in "to reduce noise pollution". He told me that one of his customers refused to do so and wrote "because chicks dig it".
His application was rejected, and he was out the $200 fee as well. The BATFE doesn't have a sense of humor about these things...