Firearm law perception poll (please vote)

[krispos42]

STOP! DON'T VOTE YET!!!

Thank you for stopping and reading these instructions first.

The purpose of this poll is to see how the general public perceives one aspect of American firearm laws. I'm not trying to find your opinion, whether or not something should or shouldn't be permitted. Nor am I trying to find out what the law is.

I'm trying to find out how well the general public has been educated by the popular and news media, the politicians, the activists, and the lobbyists on this issue. I want to know what people THINK the law is. What their impression is.

If you DON'T know what the law is, I would appreciate it if you voted your perception and kicked the thread.

If you DO know what the law is, I would appreciate it if you abstained from voting or revealing what the law is, but kick the thread anyway.

If nobody has disclosed what the law it 24 hours after posting, I'll post it for general edification.

Question: is it your impression that, on a federal level, fully-automatic firearms are readily available for sale to the general public?

For the purposes of this poll, "fully-automatic firearms" are guns that, when the trigger is held down, fires two or more rounds.

Also for the purposes of this poll, "general public" means Mr. and Mrs. Law-Abiding American with a clean criminal and mental-health record.

Okay, you can vote now... :-)

[Squatch]

1. As long as the purchaser has the requisite licenses, stamps, etc

to purchase a class III NFA firearm, and can pass all the requisite background checks, etc. Yes.

[karlrschneider]

3. That's right, but it isn't responsive to the poll.

...

[krispos42]

4. This information...

is exactly what I was trying to keep out of the poll.

[Squatch]

7. Sorry.

:evilgrin:

[krispos42]

8. Ah, well, hopefully people won't scroll down, that's all...

:-)


Oh, and before I forget...



:spank:



:rofl:

[Delphinus]

17. I voted before I read it - hope all are as wise. n/t

[ThomWV]

19. No need to be sorry - the information is inaccurate

Go back and read it again - it is inaccurate.

[Kingshakabobo]

13. That hardly sounds "readily" available.

Readily available, to me, would mean I could obtain the weapon by overcoming the same hurdles as other fire-arms - other "readily" available fire-arms.

[krispos42]

15. Yeah, that's exactly what I meant

And on the first post, too... <sigh>

Somewhere some minor diety is laughing it's ass off :-)

[karlrschneider]

2. I'll just kick because I know what the law is.

...

[mvccd1000]

5. I also know the law, so no answer from me. :) nt

[damntexdem]

6. Well, I didn't know for sure, but it was the impression I had gotten.

And it is certainly consistent with American idiocy.

[krispos42]

9. Thank you for your candor n/t

[krispos42]

11. Thank you! n/t

[SergeyDovlatov]

10. Kick. I know what the law is. Did not vote

[Ms. Toad]

12. If the point of your poll is to

"find out how well the general public has been educated by the popular and news media, the politicians, the activists, and the lobbyists on this issue" then why exclude those who believe they know what the law is from participation? Weren't we presumably educated by the popular and news media, the politicians, the activists, and the lobbyists just as much as those who believe they don't know?

[krispos42]

14. Well...

People who own guns for whatever reason typically know the law from reading gun magazines, talking with other gun owners, that sort of thing. People that are actively pro- or anti-gun typically debate each other (sometimes with vigor), and the laws are brought up during the debate. Check out most any busy thread in the Gungeon and you will see people quoting the 1934 Federal Firearms Act, for example.

But in most any Gungeon thread there is one or more people that are not aware of the law, are confused by terminology, or confuse one class of firearm with another. My target audience, in other words. The ones that might be answering poll questions or writing letters to their newspapers or elected representatives with insufficient knowledge.

I'm trying to get some sort of idea of what percentage of the general, largely-disinterested-in-this-topic population has received the correct impressions from just general exposure to American life.

I guess, in hindsight, I could have had a third option, something like "I know for a fact what the law is", and that would give the knowledgeable something to vote for without giving away the answer.

In fact, that's a pretty good idea.

Oh, well. I'll keep that in mind for future polls.

[qdemn7]

16. K & R n/t

[ThomWV]

18. A Close Friend has a license to manufactur machine guns and silencers

I know what he had to go through to get his license, I know what the restrictions are on his place of business and his ability to sell, as well as who he can and who he can not sell to. I will not comment beyond that other than to say if you want that license and plan to get one you had better really want it and have lots of time and a fair amount of money on your hands.

[krispos42]

20. Thank you, everybody who voted. Here's the answer

While fully-automatic firearms are available to the general public, they are not readily availble, due to relative scarcity of Title II firearms and strict and time-consuming federal application process.

Fully-automatic firearms are part of a class of firearms regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934 called a "Title II" firearm.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/nfa/nfa_handbook/0607nfa_handbook-rev.pdf

Federally-licenced gun dealers have to pay $1,000 per year for a special extra classification called Special (Occupational) Tax to deal in Title II firearms, although you can buy them from one private owner to another. Many federally-licensed dealers do not deal with them at all.

Purchasing one first requires that you submit a request (in duplicate) to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives using BATFE Form 4. You have to include a recent photograph and an FBI fingerprint card with your fingerprints on it, and the local police chief, sheriff, state police head, or similar person has to sign off on the transfer. Then the BATFE decides whether or not to approve the transfer. And don't forget the $200 transfer tax.

http://www.atf.gov/forms/pdfs/f53204.pdf

The firearm described in ATF Form 4 must be on the National Firearms Registry, which was opened in 1934 and closed in 1986. New fully-automatic firearms are not available for sale to the general public.

This is in addition to any state requirements, which usually require approval and registration with the state police or state Department of Justice. Some states, such as Illinois and Delaware, completely prohibit private ownership of fully-automatic weapons.

As an aside, because the NFR is closed and the pool of legal Title II firearms is fixed, no new Title II firearms have been sold to the general public in over 20 years, so prices run according to supply and demand. An MP5 full-auto submachine gun, for example, will cost you $25,000. M16 assault rifle, $15,000. M60 machine gun, $33,000. World War II German MG42, $43,000. Six-barreled gatling-style "Minigun", $265,000.