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How do people own automatic weapons?

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noisyturtle:
I was always under the impression that owning and operating automatic, and silenced weapons, and explosives was illegal. Yet, you see all over TT and X US citizens firing fully automatic machine guns, using silencers, and detonating devices like actual landmines and grenades. How can they do this without being investigated by the FBI?
I'm not against it per say, just have no clue how a private citizen can legally purchase and fire M60s and set off grenades? Grenades in particular are notoriously impossible to obtain, they don't even allow explosives experts to get them, nor obtainable for scientific testing, so idk how people even get this ****?
Did the laws for owning automatic weapons meant for military change recently? How can people go on social and incriminate themselves with no repercussions?

fohat.digs:
The primary avenue is "gun shows" where weapons sellers can skirt many requirements such as background checks through "gray area" loopholes.
And, of course, you can make contacts there with people who can sell to you clandestinely at a later date.

But for decades the Radical Right has been causing "death by a thosand cuts" to Federal agencies by simply refusing to authorize money to pay them. So it isn't like there is a viable presence of enforcement - simply because there is insufficient money to hire and pay agents. In a similar vein it is a proven statistic that for every dollar spent by the IRS for additional equipment and personnel the return is $5-$10, but the House refuses to increase that "spending" by saying that we "can't afford" it. Go figure.

By the way, remember the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas? That whole affair started when a UPS driver was unloading a box at their place when it dropped and broke open - and hand grenades rolled out.

 

tp4tissue:
The problem isn't weapons, it's capitalism which leads to poverty in monetary And educational terms.

Anyone can go buy guns in america, most people don't. The guns are just not necessary.

noisyturtle:
I know there is the 25 year antique law, making basically anything 25 years or older obtainable regardless of automatic function. But those are also absurdly expensive, like $30-40k for just a basic AK47 or something similar. So for rich people only. But I see people with P90s and modern machine pistols, which are definitely newer than 25 years post manufacturing.
But there's the Class3 FFL that allows people to purchase and own insane stuff like sawed-off shotguns, silencers, and modern automatic rifles. Legitimately, from what I can tell, you just plop down an absurd amount of money and have a clean record and you are good to go. Absolutely a pricepoint that only wealthy people can achieve, which makes it even more suspect that US allows just the rich(essentially, this is what the law boils down to) to obtain these things. The way it is set up seems so dubious and suspect.

TomahawkLabs:
It’s a “freedom” awarded to those with clean records. It’s not “thousands” it’s a few hundred depending on what you are actually applying for. The rules are also very strict. I’ve heard of folks with a “minor in possession of alcohol” was enough to deny a user for a silencer stamp.

Silencers knock 30-40db off, which is still 100+ dB. Silencers are more safety devices (reduced sound levels) than a danger to the public. I’d argue the barrier to get silencers is silly and they should be encouraged more for sports shooting as a hearing safety device.

For fully automatic firearms, yes the fees are high but so are the firearms, so it is rather cost prohibitive. But because people are cheap there are tons of ways to get dang close. Glock switches, bump stocks, modifications to the action or firing mechanism isn’t hard. You just don’t want to get caught doing it.

Not saying anyone should have fully automatic weapons, but would you rather people have to register with the govt, pass strenuous background checks, and have a mega waiting period or would you rather it be available on Amazon?

Those devices are locked behind the laws people want applied to other firearms. The stats show very little crime done with fully automatic weaponry and I would would guess near 0% of automatic firearm crimes are committed by people who have proper permits/stamps/licenses for those firearms.

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