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matt86
07-08-10, 08:32
My friend and I were having a discussion about pre ban weapons. He thinks he can buy a fully auto preban rifle and it will be legal.Apparently you can purchase "preban" automatic weapons on the internet. I was under the impression that the rifles were grandfathered in if you were the original owner. Anyone care to shed some light? :confused:

So to legally own a full auto, even if it was registered before 86, one would still have to go through the shenanigans of obtaining a tax stamp, right?
variablebinary
07-08-10, 08:41
My friend and I were having a discussion about pre ban weapons. He thinks he can buy a fully auto preban rifle and it will be legal.Apparently you can purchase "preban" automatic weapons on the internet. I was under the impression that the rifles were grandfathered in if you were the original owner. Anyone care to shed some light? :confused:

Pre 86 machine guns are transferable provided you dont have some wonky local commie law in effect.
Skyyr
07-08-10, 10:14
Pre 86 machine guns are transferable provided you dont have some wonky local commie law in effect.

They must also be registered. Just owning a pre-86 full-auto doesn't make it legal; it must have been registered prior to the cut-off date. There IS (or at least, was) a clause that exempts dealers who owned pre-86 samples as in-shop demos and didn't register them prior to the 86 cutoff date. Those samples can be legally possessed only by the original license holder or the rifle may be passed down to the heirs of their property.
skyugo
07-08-10, 22:51
should proably note too that transferable (pre-86) full auto firearms command a serious premium. an AK or an M16 will run you over 15 grand.
mac 10's go for about 4000 bucks.

some of the more exotic stuff is 50k+ easily.
shootist~
07-09-10, 00:06
"Preban" has different meanings, but generally refer to the '89 Federal Import Ban that's still in effect, as well as the '94 Federal AWB that expired in 2004 ). Then there are a few states that kept the '94 AWB (or similar) law in effect. All these deal with semi-auto guns only.

Your buddy does not know what he is talking about. Machine guns are a completely different topic.
Skyyr
07-09-10, 08:18
"Preban" has different meanings, but generally refer to the '89 Federal Import Ban that's still in effect, as well as the '94 Federal AWB that expired in 2004 ). Then there are a few states that kept the '94 AWB (or similar) law in effect. All these deal with semi-auto guns only.

Your buddy does not know what he is talking about. Machine guns are a completely different topic.

Ummm... have you read the responses? Pre-86 registered MG's are transferable/purchasable. I don't see anything his friend says that contradicts that. Pre-ban means just that, BEFORE the ban. Since machine guns were only banned once, then pre-86 IS pre-ban.
shootist~
07-09-10, 09:05
Ummm... have you read the responses? Pre-86 registered MG's are transferable/purchasable. I don't see anything his friend says that contradicts that. Pre-ban means just that, BEFORE the ban. Since machine guns were only banned once, then pre-86 IS pre-ban.

Possibly so - but the OP's original post about "Preban" (before he edited) was not clear, at least to me. See the quote in post #2 for the original text.
perna
07-09-10, 09:16
The quote you are referring to is the same exact text in the OP, so that part was not edited.
Skyyr
07-09-10, 10:07
So to legally own a full auto, even if it was registered before 86, one would still have to go through the shenanigans of obtaining a tax stamp, right?

Somewhat, yes. Your state has to allow the ownership of machine guns / full-auto weapons, you must either get the local LE official to sign off on your form (it's up to their discretion) or create a Living Trust to transfer the weapon into (no signoff required for the trust), and then get the tax stamp ($200 fee). While the tax stamp might seem to be "shenanigans," the cost of most full-auto weapons eclipses the cost and wait times of the tax stamp.

Once you've done the above, you can legally possess the weapon. There are still rules you must follow - you must file a form with the federal government if you plan to go out of state with the weapon and you must allow the feds to come into/onto the location the weapon is stored at to inspect it at ANY time they want to. Understandably, you are also not allowed to use it in states that bar the use of full-auto weapons.

There's more rules and regulations with many nuances, but that's the overall scheme of things.