Question on full-auto ownership ..

For the "regular Joe" the process is the same as getting a supressor except you can't get new MGs. The only MGs that you can get are ones that were already registered by May of 1986, thats why transferable MGs are so expensive.

 

Class III dealers and Class II manufacturers can obtain new MGs so that they can show them/sell them to police departments.

The police and military are allowed to have/use new MGs. In the NFA world these guns are known as post-samples.

 

Yeah, once you pay the very high price for a machinegun that was registered here in the USA before the cut off date in 1986, everything else is pretty much the same as owning any other kind of NFA weapon.
Except, if I recall correctly, for silencers. I heard you don't have to notify the feds and fill out a form before taking your silencer out of state, but you DO have to do that for NFA guns. (Just in case you want to participate in the Knob Creek M.G. shoot one day!)

You can get a Cobray / MAC / RBP type ugly little bullet hose (think, machine pistol with a cheap folding stock) for about $3500. They're really common. All the manufacturers of those kind of guns cranked up production of frames in 1985 and early 1986, and got them registered, and completed the guns later. The M11/9 is something you can modify with different uppers, different calibers, different stocks, and you can modify it to take drum magazines instead of the standard 30 round stick mag.

 

Actually now, since the economy as gotten bad, transferable MG prices have actually dropped a little bit.

You can probably get a MAC type gun for around $3000 and you might be able to find something like a Rising/Sten/MK-760 for around $4000ish.

 

A $3k full auto might be in the $200-$300 range new if it weren't for the restriction on civilian ownership. Weapons in the $10k range may only run a chosen department or agency $800-$1500 if they want them new. There are whole classes of full autos out there that did not exist in 1986 that civilians can sometimes play with at the range but can never legally take home.

On the other hand, there isn't much of a secondary market for suppressors because $400 is tied up in stamps by the time you get to a second owner. IIRC, $600 if it is a private transaction across state lines. A suppressor that runs $800 new plus a $200 stamp means the initial owner has $1k tied up in it the first day. An in-state sale will require another $200 stamp on top of the seller's price meaning the original suppressor only starts to look like a deal once the seller is out $500. It will still cost the buyer $700 including the second stamp. $700 vs $1000 sounds like a good deal, but the extra $300 is worth a warranty, NIB status, and in most cases it will be newer (and quieter) than last year's $1k ($800+stamp) model. The picture gets worse when the suppressor price goes down to say the $200-$300 range. The second transfer just isn't worth the cost.

 

And somehow, that complies with "...shall not be infringed..."

 

If someone wants to go NFA, then the first thing you do is find a reliable dealer
After that, it just takes time and money....a LOT of both

 

Apparently well armed mitilias don't need automatic weapons....

 

The 2nd amendment really has nothing to do with militias. It was really about making sure that The People could revolt against the state militia if they ever became tyrannical. Therefore, THE PEOPLE need to have any firearm that the militia could have. Meaning automatic weapon. The federal 86 MG ban is completely unconstitutional and needs to be repealed.

Check out this video for an explanation. One cuss word, NSFW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNu7ldL1LM

 

While I fully respect the intent of your post, I'm reasonably sure the "Founding Fathers" had no conception of what an automatic weapon is today. They may well have agreed that even an infringement on MG's would have been unconstitutional. It's truelly a shame that we'll never know. I wish there were no infringements on MG's. I'd love to own one, but I'm not ready to choose one over buying a car. In the 60's, I had a few opportunities to get Thompson's cheap, and never saw the opportunity.

 

No need to notify ATF about silencers or AOWs when you transport them interstate. MG, DD, SBR, SBS, etc, yes.

 

Class II manufacturers and class III dealers are not required to sign-up for the military.

 

I am going to have to disagree with you. The founders were basically the smartest group of men to ever walk the face of the Earth. I don't think they would have been as scared of full-auto. fire as many seem to think. Knowing what I know about the founders/framers, I don't think that there was any way that they would have approved of/allowed the police and military to have a class of small arms that are basically unavailable to free civilians. During the revolution and for years after the "People" had more technologically superior weapons than those used by the military. The "People" had their own cannons and well as rifled arms, while the military was using smooth-bored weapons.

If the point of the 2nd amendment was to overthrow a tyrannical government (or even to thwart a foreign invasion) it really makes it difficult to allow the "enemy" to have technologically superior small arms, now doesn't it?

The same could be said about the 1st amendment when it comes to the Internet or militant Islam.