A question of Morality

ok, so if you had one, you could prolly get away with swapping the receiver out.

I have an interesting story as to how something like this happens. I have been old that my great great uncle (dad's great uncle) was as close as you can get without succeeding to bringing his Thompson back from WW2. If this were the case, my father would have most likely ended up with it since the two of them went shooting all the time. My Father would not have been selling it at a garage sale, of course. But I really doubt he would have had any idea what the penalties of owning such a weapon could be.

I think I would have to agree with the poster that the BATF is not necessarily interested in prosecuting to the full extent of the law. But I have no doubt they wouldn't let you keep it. Could it be a case of ignorance is bliss?

To the OP,

Theres some "not so right" stuff posted here that has simply is not true. Bottom line, in the senario you listed as long as you have control of that MG receiver your in hot water. Until it is properly demilled or transfered to you its illegal for you have control of it or any MG that is not registered to you for that matter.

Contact a legal expert to advise you, internet advise can get you tossed in the clink. Good intentions will get you no where in court. Getting pulled over while trying to take the gun back to the seller could be the start of a BAD day. Say nothing, do not transport the gun anywhere and get a NFA firmilure legal adviser ASAP. Most importantly dont post about it on the net.


In reguards to the "m2", the "once a MG always a MG rule" applys. IF at anything that receiver was capable of firing FA it is considered a FA until properly demilled, pulling parts out / dissassembelly / cutting in half to specs other then those given buy ATF will result in ATF calling it a LIVE MG.

Sam1911 said:

Um, but in cutting up the receiver wouldn't you be destroying evidence of a crime?

Click to expand...

Maybe. I look at it from a practical standpoint. In the aforementioned hypothetical scenario, the illegal firearm was purchased accidentally, and discovered later. No one was harmed, and there was no criminal intent. Destroying the illegal component of the firearm, or the entire firearm, seems a logical solution. This example is a victimless crime, or as I like to think of it, a crime only a lawyer would consider a crime.

Surrendering the weapon produces proof you were in possession of an illegal weapon, which puts you in jeopardy of being the next victim of an overzealous DA. Anyone willing to use common sense can see there's no real crime here, but if that information ends up in the hands of the DA, it would be a real bad time to find out he's an overzealous anti. You might suddenly find yourself having to prove you "accidentally" obtained an unregistered, full-auto firearm. Many a lawyer has made the good guys look bad, and the bad guys look good in a courtroom.

Surrendering the weapon to a proper authority just doesn't have enough guarantees of amnesty that I would take that chance. Hot potato strategy applies, drop it as fast as possible.

Everbody Panic!

First, contact a lawyer to see what you should do with the weapon. He'll probably tell you to turn the weapon over to the ATF who will then determine whether it can be legally owned by a civilian or not. If not, you will probably be given the option to have the weapon donated to a museum or to have the receiver destroyed.

They dont just hand out Form 10s anymore, dont make the mistake that its an easy way out of a bad senario. But it is an option, almost the only one that involves the gun not being cut up into a parts kit.

In the OP's scenario - though I'd sincerely want to do "the right thing," I certainly wouldn't trust my luck to encountering an understanding ATF person or to dealing with a sympathetic DA.

IMO, too many of these people are power-hungry, working a politically ambitious agenda or might just want to bust someone because they can. Common sense and decency don't seem to be qualities I see much of in general and especially on the part of enforcement agencies I see around my home and read about across the nation.

I also don't think paying a lawyer is any guarantee of anything except a lighter wallet. The lawyer might get out-lawyered by an aggressive and more knowledgeable DA - or you might run out of "lawyer gas" long before you've reached home safely.

So... I think I'd trust no one. The piece would find its way to the bottom of a lake, no one would be the wiser and that would be that. The end.

Thanks for the info on the receiver markings Corey.

That seems easy enough!!

They dont just hand out Form 10s anymore

Click to expand...

Actually they do. You can download the form here: http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-5320-10.pdf

The problem is the form can only be completed and submitted by a law enforcement agency and then the weapon can only be owned by a law enforcement agency.

I'll take that as a request to close from the OP.