At 12:55 PM 12/19/97 -0800, you wrote:
>
>From: Wayne Hayes <wayne@cs.toronto.edu>
>
>Fully
>>automatic weapons are almost non-existent in Canada (outside the
>>military), and I suspect the same is true for most of Western
>>Europe. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
>
>Fully automatic weapons have been illegal to the average U.S.
>citizen since the 1930's.
Not quite, although that was the intent: average persons who wish to
acquire a fully-automatic firearm have to pay a $200 tax for each
firearm, get a local LEO to state in writing that he doesn't mind, go
through full fingerprinting and a serious background check, and
(typically) wait up to six months--sometimes to be told at the end of
that time that the application has been denied.
I guess anyone who can go through that gauntlet may indeed not qualify
for the appellation "average". :}
That's federal; there are different laws in different states. For
example, in California it's virtually impossible to get a legal
full-auto unless you are a special-effects supplier to Hollywood such
as Stembridge.
As an aside, since the US ban on new manufacture, rumor has it that
movie companies sometimes hire machinists to build full-autos for a
scene, shoot the scene and then destroy the weapons, all in flagrant
violation of the law, just because THE WORLD (not just the USA) wants
its shoot-em-up entertainment louder and nastier all the time.
*Sigh*...
Wonder why no one in Hollywood gets prosecuted for that...
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.5.3
iQA/AwUBNJrxHo0M5OuB0GozEQKB8QCglST6FbeWLL9ScpC/3ZNnwIAadt0AoPJP
xX056YLQTn8yPA+1VLxiaZ7/
=NWhq
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
(NOTE: Robotlike replies to the above address will fail;
*noncommercial* communications are welcome; kindly
substitute a hyphen for the asterisk in the above address.
Sorry for any inconvenience.)