Handguns are not universally restricted across the united states, so the availability of handguns in areas where they are not supposed to be is not a valid comparison to NFA nationwide regulated weapons.
Destructive devices do in fact account for unlawful use. Gruff the crime dog, or the actor that played him for 15 years, was just busted with 1k marijuana plants and an illegal grenade launcher. There are other instances where explosive devices were seized in recent years from criminals. Rare, yes. Unheard of, no.
Anybody can build a "launcher". Nobody cares about the delivery system. Yea, you can fire bombs through a crude tube. Ammo is the tough part.
I will say I feel you are greviously exaggerating your abilities to build an rpg as good as an RPG-7 or a mortar for "a few hundred bucks". Even a delivery system. Maybe a few hundred bucks in raw materials in a well equipped machine shop and a lot of your spare time.
So your delivery system will have a 500 yard effective range, will take fast reloads, and will have a calibrated sighting system useable out to the 500 yard max effective range? I SERIOUSLY doubt that.
I can build a potato gun and call it an RPG.
It doesn't mean squate if you can't launch effective rockets. If you can't launch an actual warhead with xxx mm's of armor penetration, you don't have an rpg. Interesting that you think gangbangers can manufactur HEAT rounds though, if they reeeeally wanted to. The fact that they don't tells me they can't.
Kw: you are right. criminals don't care about NFA restrictions. They would rather go through the black market, for sure. Thing is, there is a very small black market currently for these weapons, because there is a very low supply. There is a very low supply because there are not very many out there. There are not very many out there because for the most part, ownership of said items is heavily regulated.
The McGruff Crime dog grenade launcher, was unlawful possession, not use. I'm sure many people unlawfully possess all manner of objects, some of them even may have nefarious intent, but it proves what? Destructive devices aren't used in crime, generally because they don't fit the purpose of the crime. Robbing a store can be effectively done with a knife, or pistol, you don't need to drop a mortar through the roof or blast down the front wall with an anti tank rifle. Using the right tool for the job, so to speak. Our neighbors to the south, who have almost complete bans on civilian owned firearms, are having major issues with cartels with RPGs and the like. The Russians didn't give them to the cartels, for free, did they? So how is it in a country with zero lawfully owned rocket launchers, there is a problem with criminal use of rocket launchers, while here in the states, where there is an avenue for lawful possession, their criminal use and possession is practically nil? Answer: the type of crime being committed. I'm sure Johnny McSaggypants gangster would love an RPG, and the fact is I've seen photos where they do in fact have them. But again, the difference between use and possession is vast. You can use a 20mm anti tank rifle to punch paper, but a .22 is more cost effective. I drive a V6 pick up rather than a Ferrari for the same reason. Gang bangers certainly can afford, and do purchase destructive devices, but their extremely rare use leads me to believe they either don't know how to use them, or don't have much reason or need to. Average street thugs use small, concealable, throw away deadly weapons because they are not trying to rob armored trucks. Right tool for the job.
Quote my post where I claimed gangbangers can make HEAT rounds. I won't be holding my breath waiting.
What I said is that I can make, or more accurately, have the knowledge to make, effective rockets with explosive heads. I also said they won't be as effective as military grade hardware. The science behind it is actually quite simple once you understand the basics, and the basics are pretty simple as well. Again, an impact primer fired exploding rocket is fairly basic science, not as high tech or as accurate as a molten copper shape charge of an RPG round, but useful enough in its own right.
And I can theoretically do it all without the aid of a machine shop. I drill press, dremel and a hand drill is about all the machinery I need, in theory. Haven't put any of this into practice, so JTS just speculation at this point.
As I previously asked, why is there a need to restrict anything, if civilians will never be on par with the military? We can't match spending for weapons and equipment, not even close. With such a disparity between civilians and government forces, would deregulating prohibitively expensive weapons make much of a difference?
Handguns at the most commonly used firearm in crime, so if crime control were really a goal, wouldn't it be smarter to restrict handguns? But instead, the antis focus on semi auto rifles, the least commonly used firearm in crime. Why is that? Common ammo and magazines shared with out military and police forces, maybe?
If we are going down the road of common sense gun laws, then common sense needs to be applied. It isn't.
A final addendum to this. Restricted liberty isn't liberty at all. Liberty isn't a guarantee of safety, ether. But once you allow a little restriction, you pave the way for more and more, until we have what we have now, a shadow of liberty. A modicum of what used to be. Yet you will always have someone willing to give up, or take from, just a little more. You may be content with the scraps fed to you from your masters like my dogs, but I deserve better than that. And so do you. Once you relegate yourself to subclass status, you're done. And what's worse, you've sold out future generations.
yea...thats it. I'm just another Bloomberg or Feinstein because I don't believe in dissipating the part of the NFA that covers rpg's, mortars, and grenade launchers, just waiting for the opportunity to roll over and give up my 2a rights. 
