Question about gun laws in the U.S. out of curiosity. (purchase, firearm)
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In 1934 the U.S. Federal government put this law in place.
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The NFA was originally enacted in 1934. Similar to the current NFA, the original Act imposed a tax on the making and transfer of firearms defined by the Act, as well as a special (occupational) tax on persons and entities engaged in the business of importing, manufacturing, and dealing in NFA firearms. The law also required the registration of all NFA firearms with the Secretary of the Treasury. Firearms subject to the 1934 Act included shotguns and rifles having barrels less than 18 inches in length, certain firearms described as “any other weapons,” machineguns, and firearm mufflers and silencers.
While the NFA was enacted by Congress as an exercise of its authority to tax, the NFA had an underlying purpose unrelated to revenue collection. As the legislative history of the law discloses, its underlying purpose was to curtail, if not prohibit, transactions in NFA firearms. Congress found these firearms to pose a significant crime problem because of their frequent use in crime, particularly the gangland crimes of that era such as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The $200 making and transfer taxes on most NFA firearms were considered quite severe and adequate to carry out Congress’ purpose to discourage or eliminate transactions in these firearms. The $200 tax has not changed since 1934.
An extensive background check, fingerprints, several forms, and a $200 "tax" must be paid. In addition, in 1986 the Federal Government banned the importation, and manufacturer of fully automatic firearms, thus creating a finite market. The result was as intended, as their prices have skyrocketed. Now a basic full auto firearm start at $20,000 and up making them collectors items for the wealthy.
The "Terminator" movie, and most of Hollywood get it wrong for entertainment purposes. Arnold would have had to do all the above to get a full auto UZI. The process can take six months or more. I have known people to wait over a year for approval.
Oh okay I see. So how come in the 80s, they didn't make as big of a deal of it back then?
It was a MOVIE. Most movies are wrong when it comes to firearms to make them more entertaining. Do not base U.S. law, or firearm usage, and practices on MOVIES, nor Hollywood.
I always wondered where those 80's action flick gun stores are... I gotta get me some of those machine guns that have no recoil, don't overheat, don't cause hearing damage, never miss, blow up cars/boats/helicopters and never run out of ammo.
Seriously though, Hollywood is absolutely the WORST place in the world to learn anything useful about firearms.
I'm not American so I am not familiar with the laws there, but I was watching The Terminator, and the scene when The Terminator looks at a fully automatic UZI in the gunshop... I was wondering, are civilians allowed to buy fully automatic weapons in the US, or was this just made up for the movie?
There was nothing in that scene about the Uzi being full auto. It was, however, a SBR, subject to similar legal requirements for purchase.
The laws are a bit complex but you cannot, as a civilian, buy any machine gun built after 1986. Certain federal license holders can buy them, or build them, from parts added to an existing semi-auto model.
They can be built from scratch, no modification of semi auto guns required.
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However, you, as an individual, do not really own the gun. It is held only under your license. When you close your shop, sell the gun, whatever, it has to go back to ATF, or the parts that you added to make it full auto have to go back.
When someone licensed to deal in Title 2 firearms gives up their license, post sample guns must be sold or destroyed. Neither the guns nor the parts go back to BATF. Pre samples and transferables can be kept, no need to sell or destroy them.
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These are documented inventories at the shop and ATF can walk in any time and audit you and you had better be able to account for them. There are harsh penalties at the federal level for violation of any of these rules.
ATF compliance inspections are limited to once a year unless the dealer has a history of records violations.
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For machine guns manufacturered prior to 1986, these are known as transferable machine guns. You can own them as an individual, but again only if you hold federal licenses specifically permitting you to do so. Because this pool of guns is of finite number, the prices are ridiculously high. I mean solid 5 figures high IF you can find them.
There is no license required to own a transferable machine gun. Many transferables are available for under $10,000.
In 1934 the U.S. Federal government put this law in place.
An extensive background check, fingerprints, several forms, and a $200 "tax" must be paid. In addition, in 1986 the Federal Government banned the importation, and manufacturer of fully automatic firearms, thus creating a finite market. The result was as intended, as their prices have skyrocketed. Now a basic full auto firearm start at $20,000 and up making them collectors items for the wealthy.
The "Terminator" movie, and most of Hollywood get it wrong for entertainment purposes. Arnold would have had to do all the above to get a full auto UZI. The process can take six months or more. I have known people to wait over a year for approval.
The Hughes amendment to FOPA closed the registry to newly manufactured machine guns in civilian hands. It neither banned the importation nor manufacture of new machine guns.
OP, as you can see, there is a lot of misinformation out there about machine guns, even among gun guys who think they actually know the laws. A source of good information is the NFA section of the AR15.com website. Lots of very knowledge people there.
The Hughes amendment to FOPA closed the registry to newly manufactured machine guns in civilian hands. It neither banned the importation nor manufacture of new machine guns.
I was speaking about the application to civilians. That was the question the OP asked. Of course the military and police can have them.
The Hughes Amendment was a ban on the importation, and manufacturer of new full auto firearms for the civilian market.
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The 1986 Hughes amendment (as part of the Firearm Owners Protection Act) is an unconstitutional ban that limits law abiding citizens from owning fully automatic weapons that were manufactured past May 19, 1986. Select fire weapons are already very heavily regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act which requires you to register your gun and submit a tax stamp.
Oh okay I see. So how come in the 80s, they didn't make as big of a deal of it back then?
To sum up the responses because we are now nitpicking at details which make it probably even more confusing:
- "The Terminator" was just a movie, and as such Hollywood tended to dramatic license.
- No you cannot now or then simply walk into a gun store and buy a fully automatic weapon as The Terminator did. Such weapons are severely restricted in the US and, even if you have the proper licenses, very expensive.
Simple as that.
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