OK. The issue is you inheret grandpa's souviner WW2 Sten that was never registered.
Keep in mind there have been instances where lawful owners of NFA weapons (Especially those registered in 33 and handed down) have lost paperwork, and ATF has no record of the gun in their database, even though the tax was paid.
There are also several instances in the NFA registry where it's obvious that some NFA weapons owners are dead (Example- A Thompson currently registered to Mr. Joe Schmoe, born 1896, Amnesty Registered in 1968), and the realitives didn't know that they had to notify the ATF, and simply kept the weapon.
So, the issue is granting an amnesty for MG owners to register.
(Worth noting that the Supreme Court majority opinion of US v. Staples directly addresses the issue of a realitive inhereting a machinegun with no knowledge of it's function or legal status)
Anyway, for your pleasure, I present Mr. Bradley Buckles, director of the ATF..
SOURCE: Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2003. Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives. 107th Congress, 2nd Session. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002, pages 268-269.
NATIONAL FIREARMS REGISTRATION ACT
Mr. SHERWOOD: Mr. Buckles, in 2002 we earmarked about $500,000 to correct errors in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Registry. Can you update us on your progress that is being made on that project?
Mr. BUCKLES: Yes, we have made a lot of progress and we have used that money to do a couple of things to improve the computer databases that are used to track that information, to go back through all of the information and correct any errors that were in the database, create a system where it is going to be harder to make errors by having certain types of like drop-down menus and that sort of thing that will help correct errors at the time they are going on. Also we have added staff with that money to those offices to make sure that we can have enough staff to properly access the applications as they come through.
Mr. SHERWOOD: Thank you.
One other little issue. There are lots of firearms in this country that are antique or collector’s type that have been in people’s possession long before there were any registration. Suppose you inherit something like that. What is the process to be legal and not be on the wrong side of things?
Mr. BUCKLES: The problem is right now if you inherit a weapon that is covered by the National Firearms Act and it is not registered, there is currently no way that it can be registered.
An amnesty was run at the time the law went into effect in 1968, but since then there has been no amnesty. So a firearm that is unregistered cannot be possessed by that person. When we run into a situation where there are family issues or it is a valuable weapon we have been able to work out ways in which they can sometimes be transferred to government museums because government
agencies can register these weapons, but private individuals cannot.
Mr. SHERWOOD: Do you see that as a little unreasonable?
Mr. BUCKLES: I think you can look at it as unreasonable if you are somebody who winds up with a machine gun. But we have to stand back and look at what the consequences of having an amnesty period would be or allowing people to register the weapons.
If we had an amnesty, anyone then who possessed any of those weapons, we would be unable to prosecute and do anything with the criminal misuse of those firearms.
[red]NOTE: THIS IS A FUCKING TOTAL LIE MEANT TO MISLEAD CONGRESS INTO REJECTING A AMNESTY!!! THEY COULD INDEED PROSECUTE "CRIMINAL MISUSE" OF THE GUNS- AN AMNESTY WOULD SIMPLY DECRIMINALIZE OTHERWISE GOOD CITIZENS WHO AREN'T CRIMINALS TO BEGIN WITH FOR POSESSING AN INANIMATE OBJECT[/red]
(Continued.. )
So it has all sorts of different implications that go far beyond the collectors that are involved or the individual that may end up having this weapon.
But if you are talking about it being—The kinds of weapons that are covered are machine guns, for example.
Mr. SHERWOOD: What about a World War II Lugar pistol?
Mr. BUCKLES: A World War Lugar pistol would not be covered by the National Firearms Act. Machine guns and those kinds of weapons are generally what are covered by the National Firearms Act.
Mr. SHERWOOD: Even if they are antiques?
Mr. BUCKLES: Yes. I believe so.
Mr. SHERWOOD: Thank you.
View Quote
Funny, isn't it.
Mr. Buckles suggests that an Amnesty will hinder the prosecution of criminals...
Yeah Brad.
Like the crooks would be lining up to register their MG's.
This is CLEARLY [red]BAD FAITH[/red] on the part of the ATF towards otherwise Law Abiding citizens.
Boo ATF, and brick-a-bats to Bradley Buckles.