H.R. 3155 Racketeer Weapons and Violent Crime Control Act...

[SteyrAUG]

So if you ever wondered how exactly the 86 MG Ban aka FOPA 86 happened and why the NRA and a NRA Life Member President (Ronald Reagan) would sign such a thing, you might find this interesting reading.

This is from the Jan. 1986 issue of Soldier of Fortune and this is the legislation Peter Rodino (D-NJ) and William Hughes (D-NJ) were hoping to get passed.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquer...temp/~bdaPBa::





Under the intended law pre 86 machine guns would be "grandfathered" but non transferable. That means when the owners died, the estate would be required to sell the weapons to the Secretary of the Treasury.

That means damn few people would own ANY machine guns today and nobody would be able to buy one at all. And it contained only a few of the beneficial provisions of FOPA (Firearm Owners Protection Act) 86 in order to make it attractive to some gun owners.

It permitted dealers to sell at gun shows and raised the price of FFL costs to $200 hoping to entice gun dealers to support it by giving them the opportunity to do gun shows and drive "kitchen table" FFLs out of the market. At the time I think a FFL was about $60 for three years.

It eliminated the record keeping requirement for ammo sales (unless it was for 1,000 rounds or more), with FOPA there was no requirement for any record keeping for ammo sales which had existed since 1968.

And this law would not only close the registration for machine guns, but suppressors as well. That means almost NOBODY here would own any kind of suppressor at all.

This is what the NRA and the President were up against with a Democrat majority Congress. This bill would have done little to eliminate abuses and excesses of the 1968 Gun Control Act and would have closed the books on machine guns and suppressors.

It would not contain provisions that protected people from traveling with firearms through states where they are illegal.

It would not contain provisions that protected non dealers who made favorable sales or trades of personal weapons.

It would not contain provisions that allowed the importation of surplus military rifles.

What we got instead was FOPA and Reagan did not have a line item veto. It could have been much worse.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Thanks for the history lesson there Steyr. Now to see what comes of the Trust "loophole" () issue that Barry has raised.

[Wake27]

Interesting article, thanks.

[SteyrAUG]

Bumped because a lot of people just don't know this stuff.

[BBossman]

Bumped because a lot of people just don't know this stuff.

Many who were not around during this time will wail that RR and the NRA "sold us out". At the time, we gained far more than we lost...

[Alex V]

Having become a firearm owner only in 2006, its interesting to see how the history of ownership has developed over the years.

Thanks for the article!

[scottryan]

Thanks for posting this.

[yellowfin]

Very good information, but sad to see how much we have to celebrate having only one or two fingers chopped off instead of all five.

[SteyrAUG]

Bumped because even here many people still don't know.

[SteyrAUG]

Bumped again because people still don't know.

New link to the actual act.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-c...ouse-bill/3155

Introduced in House (08/01/1985)

Racketeer Weapons and Violent Crime Control Act of 1985 - Amends the Gun Control Act to define "handgun" as a firearm which has a short stock and is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.

Imposes a waiting period of up to 15 days for a record check before a handgun purchaser is able to obtain possession of a handgun. Requires the licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to mail the appropriate form to the chief law enforcement officer of the place of residence of the purchaser notifying the chief of the proposed sale. Requires such chief to perform a record check. Directs the licensee to notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow it to examine Federal criminal records. Establishes a procedure to notify authorities if a handgun has been purchased by someone subsequently found to be unqualified if the licensee receives this disqualifying information after the transfer has occurred.

Prohibits the transfer and possession of machine guns. Enables a person to dispose of an unwanted legally registered machine gun by selling it to the Secretary of the Treasury. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to certain lawfully registered machine guns.

Prohibits the transfer and possession of silencers. Authorized the Secretary to to buy any registered silencers.

Permits gun sales at certain gun shows.

Revises the criteria reviewed by the Secretary in approving applications for licenses. Grants the Secretary authority to suspend rather than to revoke a license.

Eliminates the record-keeping requirements for licensed collectors with respect to transfer of curios to other licensed collectors. Exempts from record-keeping requirements the sale of ammunition in quantities of less than 1,000 rounds.

Allows individuals who have violated the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act to apply for relief from the legal disabilities imposed by such statutes. Allows persons formerly found incompetent to lawfully receive and possess firearms when it is found that such possession would not pose a danger to the individual or the safety of the community.

Increases the annual license fee for licensed firearm dealers, pawnbrokers, importers, and manufacturers.

Establishes the Firearms Compliance Fund with the money received from the licensing fees. Allows the fund to be used for grants to States and local agencies to provide assistance in enforcing gun control or the firearm safety program.

Makes a technical correction with regard to the receipt of firearms by a drug addict.