Theoretical Resistance from MG owners to repeal 1986

[CNYCacher]

Lets say there was a push to undo the 1986 silliness, and it actually had legs to the point where maybe there was a bill being written up or something to repeal '86.

Can you see current MG owners fighting this bill in order to protect the value of their investments?

How effective do you think they could be? I can see someone who owns $100,000 worth of pre-1986 MG's telling a reporter about the horrors of letting "just anyone" buy a brand new machine gun, when in actuality he is lying to try to protect the over-inflated value of his guns dropping to about $5000.

Can you imagine the effect of machine gun owners on TV *against* making machine guns easier to get? What a death blow.

I am sure there are MG owners out there who have more money than they have respect for the 2A. . .

discuss

 

[Henry Bowman]

I believe that the number would be small. Very small.

 

[mcosman]

It's no secret that gun grabbing liberals have guns. They also drive Prius' then fly around in G5's and tell the rest of us to buy fuel efficient cars. Hipocracy is not a trait they are foreign to or invented. Plan on exactly what you said. The elitists telling us "I've got mine now you can't have yours"

Even Bush said he would reauthorize the '94 ban if put on his desk. Make no mistake. We are all a dying breed in some ways. We are the first to get pushed under the train when it is politically expedient.

 

[CleverNickname]

This question has been posted here and on a few other boards I frequent. In the grand scheme of things, there's not all that many machine owners out there, and the number of those that don't want to repeal 922(o) is rather small, so small as to be a non-issue.

I've owned a few machine guns over the past couple years, and still have a couple. I'd like to buy more machine guns, but it doesn't make financial sense for me to do so. Arguably, it didn't make financial sense to buy the ones I did. But I'd rather have 10 machine guns worth $1000 each than one machine gun worth $10,000.

 

[Third_Rail]

If only - I'd love to have a STEN for less than $4k.


I do believe that if there were a movement in the gov't to repeal that particular section of the law, there would be very little resistance from collectors - those that did resist would find no one willing to buy their items if the law didn't go through; people have long memories.

 

[gezzer]

Dude , NFA guys are in it for the guns and fun NOT the investment. That type came very late.

I own 4 mg and do not care what happens to their value. Being able to register new MG is worth way more than I paid for these.

Don't blame MG owners for keeping the STUPID law.

Anyone who bought them for the investment deserves to loose their money for making a stupid investment in the first place. One law and their goes all the money.

You obviously don't know many MG owners.

 

[hso]

I've got to agree with those who say that MG collectors would back the move 100%. I know a dozen different MG guys and every one of them would be happy to see their $16,000 M16 become an $800 gun overnight just so they'd be able to get toys that are not readily available to them.

 

[TXGunGeek]

Unintended Consequences

Not the book.

The problem with a repeal of NFA'34 and deletion of the NFR is it would make all Suppressors, MG's, SBR's, SBS's instantly illegal in Texas as well as many other states. There would have to be a massive state by state repeal of various laws in addition to the federal changes to make this work. State law says it is illegal to posses any of these and it is a defense to prosecution that the item is properly registered in the NFR. No NFR, No defense!!!!

So, it would be a MUCH larger problem than just getting a repeal of NFA to make this happen. It would not surprise me if some Dems actually would support a bill to repeal NFA knowing this would be the case.

 

[sumpnz]

TXGunGeek - The proposal was for repeal of the closure of the registry, not the whole NFA. 'Course eliminating the NFA entirely would still be a good thing overall, and in a state like TX I'd imagine that there'd be plenty of political support to revise its laws should such become necessary to protect MG owners in the state from prosecution due to changes in federal law.

 

[Critter183]

If I want to shoot full auto, I'll go to a machine gun shoot and fork over the bucks to try one out.

If I ever REALLY needed one at some future point in history, like say if America goes totally Bosnia, I'll find a way to have one.

I really don't give a damn what the commies and marxists want to do. They'll do it anyway, despite anything I try to do about it. Played that game for too long.

I'll always have something, and will always have the means to get more.

 

[Wes Janson]

Repealing 1934 isn't necessary, because $200 is a reasonable amount to pay these days for a weapon. If we could just re-open the registry...even if only for a few months...it would bring down prices tremendously I'd say.

 

[Exposure]

I am an MG owner. And I know several other MG owners as well. All of them, including me, would love to see the 86 ban repealed. I would gladly GIVE my MG away if it meant I could buy new ones.

I am not in favor of removing the NFA of 34. It has worked, and worked very well. But I would love to see the 86 ban go away. Unfortunately there was actually A LOT of good in the bill it got tacked onto in addition to the bad. So we really are in a catch 22. For those doubting me pick up a copy of "The Machine Gun Dealer's Bible" by Dan Shea and see what he has to say. It is enlightening to say the least.

 

[Third_Rail]

I'd wager that more than one SOT is sitting on piles of tubes for STENs, Suomis, etc., that are all ready to mill really quick and be registered for sale to civilians in case that happens.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

The most intriguing NFA idea which has come up on this board:

Since "legalize machineguns" would sound terrible in Congress, a politican who (for whatever odd personal reason) wanted to help with MGs could phrase it as "ensuring that law enforcement authorities are able to control machinegun ownership".

In other words "we need an amnesty for any MGs we may have missed with the previous registry, so let's open the registry for a few months and give folks a last chance to make good."

That would result in various machine shops working 24/7 for a few weeks, and 37 months worth of paperwork flooding into ATF offices to make the deadline. (Go to include the "must be POSTMARKED by..." clause)

That seemst the most realistic possibility, of many remote possibilities.

I'd love to see the whole NFA done with, but that would only occur through some massive shift in American culture (which might happen in my lifetime), or through an incredibly sneaky last-minute poison-pill rider.

Heck, maybe some Wyoming congressman will jam it into the fine print in the "$10 Minimum Wage" bill...

-MV

 

[Prince Yamato]

In other words "we need an amnesty for any MGs we may have missed with the previous registry, so let's open the registry for a few months and give folks a last chance to make good."

Heck, maybe some Wyoming congressman will jam it into the fine print in the "$10 Minimum Wage" bill...

Maybe we could include it in the upcoming Illegal Immigrant Amnesty...

"...And in addition to problems with Mexico, an uncounted number of Kalashnikovs have snuck into the country as well... estimates are in the high thousands..."

 

[Kenneth Lew]

I know of some NFA gun snobs that would probably have a stroke if they did repeal the 86 registration ban. They occassionally set up at the local gun show and boast the $$$$$$$ value of what is sitting on the 3 tables. Same ones that stated once I was not sophisticated enough to purchase NFA firearms (also insulted my intelligence in front of his kids in a derogatory way)!!!

 

[TexasRifleman]

I would gladly give up all the equity in my NFA weapons to allow me the ability to buy a lot more, no question.

 

[ilbob]

I bet most of those with a huge investment in full auto firearms are not going to want to see the value of them drop by 80% overnight. Those who bough them for the fun may not care as much, but I have a hard time believing people with millions of dollars worth of these things are going to look kindly on having millions of dollars worth of equity go up in smoke.

I do not think the dems are going to open up the registry for even 30 seconds, regardless of the pretext. These are the same people that want to ban most if not all civilian firearms ownership. You really think they will let you register new machine guns?

 

[TexasRifleman]

but I have a hard time believing people with millions of dollars worth of these things are going to look kindly on having millions of dollars worth of equity go up in smoke.

Well, there are only 3 or 4 of them anyway.....

 

[SuperiorMarksman_18]

My dad's thinking of buying an AC-556 when he gets back from the sandbox next month. Boy is my mom gonna be pissed! But yeah, It would be nice to pay $1,500 for a new one rather than $7,500 for a decades old used gun.

 

[Third_Rail]

While it is true that there are only very few rich collectors, the problem is just that - they're rich.

 

[TexasRifleman]

While it is true that there are only very few rich collectors, the problem is just that - they're rich.

Yes they are, but they would not be the reason we don't get the mess repealed.

If all we had to do was convince a few rich investors I think we'd have a good chance. They are the easy part I'm afraid.

 

[Lupinus]

the problem is it only takes one or two to get on CNN and become the public face of a movement which isn't really a movement at all, but to the sheep will appear so.

 

[WeedWhacker]

Repealing 18USC922o would do the trick. The "o" clause is the nasty bit.

 

[bogie]

I think that most of the folks out there would see it as a benefit... There's gonna be a few folks who'll lose monetary value, but frankly, they're not planning on selling the things anyway, so it's not _real_ money. In fact, their insurance payments will probably go down. Plus they'll be able to buy inexpensive MP-5s, SAWs, etc, etc....