I know the answer but my Great Uncle asked my dad and I one day. He thinks his son has a Thompson stored away somewhere. I am pretty sure it is not licensed or registered, but we don't even know if he has it.

I

They are illigal. (excl. law inforcement &such)

I'm shure you could find a way around the law for something as collectable as an original Thompson.

Find it, it's worth a lot of money.

They are illegal. (excl. law inforcement &such)

I think you just need a special license to own them(Class III?). And I think that license entitles law enforcement to check your house at ANY time, to make sure you have possession of your weapons.

Yeah I am pretty sure you need a federal permit to have it in your possesion, Someday we will find out if it is actually there, I heard that in the original case with all original equip. it could fetch around 10k?

yeah you have to register it and pay a yearly fee of about $200. most firearms and accessories like this can be ordered from just about anywhere but have to pass thru a class 3 dealer.ie if you buy a .50 from ssomeplace online they ship to a local class3 dealer and you go pick it up there

i saw someone sellin ak47s not to long ago

"Machine guns" are automatic. AK's are semi auto.... AK's are considered rifles. Anyone 18 yrs.old can buy them.

if you buy a .50 from ssomeplace online they ship to a local class3 dealer and you go pick it up theredepends on what kind of ".50" you are talkind about. An old M2, well, its not like you would be able to pick up one of those in working condition anyway. But hypothetically, if you could pic up an M2 or something along the lines of an M60 they would have to go through an FFL holder and you would have to be a verified Class III lisence holder. Don't think the dealer/FFL guy has to have a Class III to transfer them.

It also has to be OK'd and signed off by either your police chief or sheriff depending on if you live in city limits or in the county IIRC

"Machine guns" are automatic. AK's are semi auto.... AK's are considered rifles. Anyone 18 yrs.old can buy them.

Military issue AKs have automatic firing capabilities. Civilian-available ones have parts added to make them semi-auto.

haha

this always confused me.

semi-automatic = what? bolt action? hand gun with a slide?
automatic = pull the trigger, one shot out (ar-15?)
machine gun/(fully automatic?) = hold the trigger, stream of bullets (modified ar-15)

is this right?

what about a glock thats been modified to empty its clip when you pull and hold?

semi-auto means you pull the trigger, it fires one round and loads another, but you must release the trigger and squeeze it again to fire this next round. Automatic means it'll keep loading and firing until you release the trigger or run out of ammo in the magazine/ammo belt.

Interestingly enough, full auto is easier than semi auto to make. Semi auto requires an additional seer to stop the weapon from automatically firing the next round loaded.

When I was posted to a US base in an exchange program, the National Guardsmen I worked alongside envied my C-7 (M-16 based rifle with Canadian Forces specific mods) because it had 'safe/single shot/full auto' modes whereas theirs had 'safe/single shot/3 round burst' or something like that. That's what they claimed, anyhow, though I know other units/US forces members also had full auto capabilities.

IIRC all M-16 variant rifles issued to US soldiers anymore have a 3 round burst mode instead of full auto. But, since I'm not in the military and don't have access to an M4, can't say for sure about them, but i've heard it said both ways.

It is said they did that because of studies done in vietnam that a soldier will sometimes just squeeze down and let the ammo run out instead of aquiring targets etc, and the three round burst forces them to think about it. or something to that effect anyway.

Yeah, I've heard that - wasn't sure if it was anti-American propeganda or not, since the context implied the troops would hide & shoot without aiming.

One thing the Canadian Forces are big on is 'fire discipline'. We were trained to fire 3 round bursts when in full auto simply by memorizing how long to hold the trigger... that way we could conserve ammo, but fire full auto when required.

Right on the 3 round burst for the US M16A2, the M16A1 was full auto but was replaced by the M16A2. It was added after complaints from higher ups during the vietnam conflict. Also the forward assist was added to it since many troops complained of the rounds jamming during combat. The M4 also has that restriction since its just the same as an m16 except that the buttstock and barrel are swapped out to make it easier to use in confined areas (ie. building clearing, inside vehicles, close combat situations)

you can legally own/fire and ak-47 as long as it was brought here or purchased before 1979, and an M-16 is considered a machine gun, but if u get it as a Semi Auto it is Legal and go buy conversion kit online....

it is Legal and go buy conversion kit online....

But not to instal it.

its only illegal if u get caught

Damn you guys are a very confused group of people.

Full-Auto weapons can be purchased legally.

There are "semi-auto" and "full-auto" versions of weapons in most cases.

Semi-Auto means one trigger pull one bullet fired and it is self-loading.

Full-Auto means one trigger pull multiple bullets fired and it is self-loading.

Full-Auto requires a federal tax to be paid of 9% of sale price not to exceed $200 dollars and a background check and papers must be in your possession if you have the weapon with you.

Semi-Auto requires no special permit.