Virginia News Reporter Shot Live

[xxlt]

(08-27-2015, 06:55 PM)Rotobeast Wrote: Even though I'm a big 2nd Amendment supporter, I really see no need for fully automatic weapons.
After the initial thrill wears off, it's just a waste of ammo, and a lot of barrels get warped from idiots overheating them.

Now, a bit concerning the hole you speak of (per Wikipedia).....

"However, the Act also contained a provision that banned the sale of machine guns manufactured after the date of enactment to civilians, restricting sales of these weapons to the military and law enforcement. Thus, in the ensuing years, the limited supply of these arms available to civilians has caused an enormous increase in their price, with most costing in excess of $10,000. Regarding these fully automatic firearms owned by private citizens in the U.S., political scientist Earl Kruschke said "approximately 175,000 automatic firearms have been licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (the federal agency responsible for administration of the law) and evidence suggests that none of these weapons has ever been used to commit a violent crime"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act

Forgot to add the actual requirements to obtain a machinegun.....

"The ATF, as a representative of the U.S. and with authority from the National Firearms Act, can authorize the transfer of a machine gun to an unlicensed civilian. An unlicensed individual may acquire machine guns, with ATF approval.[4]
The transferor must file an ATF application, which must be completed by both parties to the transfer:[4]
executed under penalties of perjury[5]
both parties must reside in the same state as the individual
pay a $200 transfer tax to ATF[6]
the application must include detailed information on the firearm and the parties to the transfer[5][7]
the transferee must certify on the application that he or she is not disqualified from possessing firearms on grounds specified in law
the transferee must submit with the application (1) two photographs taken within the past year; and (2) fingerprints[7]
the transferee must submit with the application (3) a copy of any state or local permit or license required to buy, possess, or acquire machine guns
an appropriate (local) law enforcement official must certify whether he or she has any information indicating that the firearm will be used for other than lawful purposes or that possession would violate state or federal law[7]
the transferee must, as part of the registration process, pass an extensive Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background investigation.[8]

If ATF denies an application, it must refund the tax.[4] Gun owners must keep approved applications as evidence of registration of the firearms and make them available for inspection by ATF officers"

For what it is worth I have known several dudes who claimed to own or know people who owned machine guns. And they pretty much all said, "yeah, we don't do any of that crap the government says we are supposed to."