I continue to get people that e-mail on a weekly basis asking me how they can buy a legal machinegun. I am reserving the first couple posts in this thread so that I have a place to stick things as I build this FAQ. please understand that this will be a work in progress for a while but I still welcome additions and especially any corrections if I were to make any errors!
NOTE: This is a pretty rough first draft... I will be getting this polished as I get time
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How does this purchase procedure work?
To buy a machine gun the first thing you need to do is spend some time and learn about the various types of machineguns and develop a basic knowledge of what machine guns values are. Honestly, machine gun values change so rapidly and constantly that this is a moving bar but it is a very important starting point as buying a machinegun is a major investment and you will want to make sure that you are getting what you want before you lay out thousands or tens of thousands of your hard earned dollars!
The second thing that you need to do is look at your state and local regulations as they pertain to machine gun ownership. For the sake of not needing to keep a list myself here is a list of state laws to use as a starting point:
http://www.autoweapons.com/pagelinks/statelist.html
If your state allows machineguns, the next step is for you to contact your local chief of police and ask them if there are any local laws that prohibit the ownership of an otherwise legally national Firearms Act registered machinegun. Personally, I am used to hearing a pause and a request for me to repeat the question but you need to make it clear that you are asking if your local city and/or county had laws prohibiting the ownership of a LEGALLY registered machinegun.
This is also a good time to then ask your local chief of police if they will sign National Firearms Act paperwork for you indicating that there are no laws prohibiting machineguns in your city or town. If they will not sign, there are other people that can sign the forms for you including your local Sheriff, County DA, etc. I would try to verify that one of these officers will sign your paperwork before you proceed with a purchase and it is important to reinforce to your local law officials that they are not saying anything about you and that their signature simply indicates that the machinegun is legal to own in your location.
If your local law enforcement officials will not sign indicating there are no laws prohibiting Machineguns in your area, then as you may be forced to apply using other legal mechanisms to purchase the Machinegun including forming a Trust or Corporation. With Trusts and Corporations, the sign off by a Chief Law Enforcement Officer is bypassed but the rest f the paperwork and process is basically the same. The advantages/disadvantages of individual vs organization registration are beyond the scope of this overview.
As long as you get word from your local police chief that there are no local laws and your state allows machineguns and you have an official that is willing to sign your forms your are pretty much ready to go shopping! If not, you may need to start a Trust or Corp (NOTE I FORMED MY OWN CORP BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE) and you will want to have the Trust or Corp established before you start shopping.
After you are comfortable with what you want and the prices plus you know that they are legal in your area and you need to figure out how you will come up with the money to pay for the machinegun. You need to be careful with high dollar items always but most sellers will want 100% up front to sell and start the transfer paperwork. Some people will do 50% down and 50% at time paperwork is approved but I have also seen a few cases where at the end the buyer had a tough time coming up with the money so it is something to plan out before buying a very expensive gun outside of your budget.
Next, you need to start watching for the weapon you want. Upon rare occasions they may show up in a newspaper or a local gunshow where they are owned by individuals but you will have much better luck looking on the internet or contacting a local C-3 dealer. Following are a few excellent places to watch for NFA items...
sturmgewehr.com
subguns.com
ar15.com
uzitalk.com
(There are many others!)
When you are looking for a weapon, remember that an out of state weapon will require that the weapon be transferred to a local
C2 SOT or C3 SOT license holder that is in your state. If the gun is on a FORM 3 (Tax Free Form) the dealer who owns the gun now can do a tax free transfer from his Form 3 to your dealer on a Form 3. If however the gun is out of state on a FORM 4, the gun will need to be transferred from this individuals Form 4 to your dealer’s Form 3 and this will come with a $200 tax fee that buyers are normally expected to pay.
Once your dealer has the gun in your state, then you would need to fill out paperwork to register it in your name. The paperwork includes two copies of a Form 4 (this is the transfer form), two copies of FBI finger print cards, you need two passport photos, and two copies of US Citizenship forms. Once you have all the photos and forms, then you need to go to your local chief or Police and have then sign both copies of the Form 4s indicating that there are no local laws prohibiting you from owning a machinegun where you live and they take your fingerprints.
Now, if you purchase a machinegun inside your own state there will always be one transfer and one transfer tax. The transfer can be from an individual or a dealer directly to you (as long as your state allows private person to person sales of firearms). The transfer would be a direct Form 3 or Form 4 to your Form 4 and this would come with a $200 tax payment.
The paperwork is then mailed to BATF along with a $200 tax payment and in anywhere from 3 months to MUCH longer the holder of your Machinegun will get your approved paperwork back from the BATFE and they should know to contact you as you are supposed to take possession of the weapon in a timely manor as the weapon is now your property and registered to you and you can enjoy your legal machinegun.
Hybrid Mode
