Re: Class III weapons purchase in US was Constutional questions

[Ryan Pendergast <pender@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>    All machine guns, short rifles, and short shotguns are $200 tax weapons.
>100% of this goes to the US Treasury Dept.

Actually short shotguns and everything in the "any other weapon" (AOW)
category are only $5.00.  


>The state is not involved in the
>transaction, neither is the dealer except to provide the information about
>the weapon.  

Depends on the state.  Several states ban these weapons and devices
outright while others require a seperate registration process.  


>I believe suppressors and some other things fall under AOW.

Suppressors are classed seperately.  They require a $200 tax stamp, and
again, many states ban them outright.

Somewhat related, destructive devices like LAW's, grenades, claymores, etc.
are all legal to own provided you pay the $200 tax stamp.  The only catch
is, you can only register Destructive Devices that have been previously
registered and there are only like a dozen in the entire county.  So much
for keeping a crate of frags under your desk.  

Except for flamethrowers.  Flamethrowers are legal in almost every state
and there are no federal laws restricting their ownership in any way.


>Some dealers add a fee to run the Brady check, some jurisdictions charge a
>fee also.  The FBI does not charge a fee, yet, but they have asked Congress
>if they can several times.

Since the "Instant Check" went into effect, I believe dealers are no longer
able to charge a fee for doing the test.  The FBI will definitely be
charging a fee for the instant check, but according to the law, it has to
be phased in gradually.


>    Actually most of this is relevant if the GM follows current US law when
>players want to buy the fun toys that make LOUD noises.  When my players
>want to purchase (legally) Class III weapons, I charge them the extra $200
>and make them wait the 2-6 weeks before they can take delivery.  It keeps
>the players thinking (they can't just run down to the local Class III dealer
>and pick up what they want).  I do fudge the law some and allow all modern
>Class III's to be bought, the law stops transferables to civilians at
>weapons made before 1985, I think.

All good info except the date is May 1986, not '85.  What this means is
that private citizens (including B/E) cannot own any full auto weapons
registered after that date.  Sorry, no P90's, Mk 46's, or Tavors.  Also,
because this effectively closed the marketplace, the Class III weapons that
are available are skyrocketing in price.  The same MP5 that a law
enforcement agency can buy for $1100 sells for $10,000+ in the Class III
market.  A simple way to limit the full auto fire power in the game.

What I've done to work my way around this so that we can play with all the
cool new toys from the last 15 years is to have created an imaginary
federal law exempting B/E and other security firms from the restrictions.
The catch is that the companies granted the exemption must agree that the
weapons will only be used outside the U.S. borders and will be kept secured
in a vault while in America.  The intent of the law was to allow private
bodyguards to be better armed in dangerous overseas locales.  I left the
law vague enough, though, so that the guns could be used for pretty much
whatever provided you don't cross the feds.  You have to remember, after
all, that B/E's largest client is the United States government.

The only other way to get around the real world 1986 law is for the
characters to become S.O.T.'s.  Special Occupational Taxpayers are firearms
dealers who sell restricted weaponry to police departments, federal
agencies, and foreign countries.  You have to sell (I believe) $150,000 of
weapons a year to qualify and the annual registration fee is $5000 (I
think, I'll pulling this from memory).  The cool part is that you get to
keep "samples" which could conceivably be used on ops.  Of course, if you
get caught....


>    Anybody have more info?  I know Pender had the relevant law books on his
>shelf.

Yup, but they are in storage at the moment.  If anyone is really interested
in this subject, the books that I have (one covering federal laws about
full auto, etc. and the other is a state by state guide) were sent to me
free by the ATF.  If you have a U.S. mailing address, you can simply
request the books at no charge to you.  They aren't updated especially
frequently (they were still sending an out of date 1994 state book in '99)
but the info is current enough and readable enough  to be useful in a ME
game.  If there is sufficient interest in this topic, I can maybe put
together some tables and charts that explain all this better.

Hope this helps,
Ryan