I doubt you'll be arrested if you found a NFA item in an attic of a house you just moved into to.
Guess again. I'm trying to find a good link...but there was a case of some people finding an old rusted subgun on a park, turning it in per good citizen concepts, and being arrested for "possesion" of an "illegal machinegun".
Not to hi-jack this thread but lets say I were shooting my semi-auto rifle and the sear broke making said rifle go full auto. I guess this would be viewed as a illegal conversion.
Yep, that has happened too. People have been arrested and charged with illegal possession for having a legal gun that broke.
Even if these folks aren't convicted, do you have any idea what being
charged with having an
illegal machine gun will do to your life? You don't have to be convicted of a crime like that to spend lots of money, lose your guns, your job...it's about like being charged with "child pornography" or perhaps being a congressman...
Edited to add:
Folks, this is why so many of us "stamp collectors" have a beef with the NRA. Since the phrase "machine gun" immediately turns off the thinking part of people's minds, be it cops, sheeple, congress critters, or duck hunters, the NRA doesn't want to get involved....but this stuff
is going on. All of the fears that you "title I" ("regular" gun) types talk about happening "some day" are going on now. Go look at the issue of Len Savage's belt-fed upper for the M11 SMG. One day the ATF says it's an accessory, next it's a "machine gun"...after he's sold the bloody things! Then the ATF wants the names of all the folks that bought an accessory but now have an "illegal machine gun"...uh huh.
I'll have to say this -- I don't believe "they" are ready to come stomping down on us all, I'm not fear mongering, just trying to say that some very ugly stuff has happened because of the 1934 NFA, and it is indeed something that
all gun owners need to be aware of and take seriously.