STG 44 what price/value ?

[Tim R. B.]

Peter, in the UK they make big money, at the last Birmingham arms fair there was a very clean example with a price tag of £1600, which is what the going rate seems to be over here. We you could own a semi auto in the good old days, (the 80s and before) a fine example shooter was only £350. Tim

[Bob Lembke]

Licensing full autos in the US

Guys;


Not an expert, but I know a bit. The $200 fee, which I heard called 40 years ago "the machine gun tax", was a one time fee put in in the 1920's or possibly early 1930's by the US Feds, as there was no federal gun control, and gangsters were toting the Thompson .45's about with corrupt local police looking the other way, or possibly with no local law against it. As the courts took the Second Amendment seriously at that time, the Feds couldn't pass a federal gun control law, but they could pass revenue or tax bills. So they passed this law so that the Feds (the FBI, before J. Edgar took to wearing cocktail dresses, Elliot Ness, etc.) could identify who had the "heavy artillery", or, if they didn't pay the "tax", had a handle on arresting them, for tax evasion.

In a like fashion some top gangsters (Frank Costello) were sent to prison for income tax evasion, when the Feds could not get them on the few federal crime laws then on the books, and the local officials looked the other way.

I have a friend that has a fully licensed, functional Thompson, and an other one, in a western state, with a fully licensed, functional MG 08/15. I understand that it is a real Mount Olympus of paper-work, but do-able, if you have a clean record, of course.

Here in Pennsylvania we have a crystal-clear section of the state constitution which says that "The right of a citizen of Pennsylvania to keep and bear arms for his own protection, and for that of the Commonwealth, shall not be questioned." (That may be a word or two off, but is very close, if not exact.) However, the City Fathers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, our largest cities, had laws severely restricting and controling the ownership and carrying of firearms. Finally the state legislature passed a law forcing the big cities to issue concealed weapons permits to honest citizens. The law itself was written by a lawyer friend of my friend with the Thompson SMG, here in Philadelphia. Now the City Fathers try to make it as difficult as possible, but the law sets standards for things such as how long the city can sit on your application, and they can only be a pain in the a$$.

Bob Lembke

[Peter Wiking]

Thanks all. I´m very proud of my MP44

Cheers.
Peter Wiking

[Tim R. B.]

Peter, any chance of some pics? Tim.

[J Melvin]

Bob pretty well hit the nail on the head as to the $200 fee. If the gun is fully transferrable (i.e., to anyone in the US that can pass a criminal background check living in an area where it is still legal to own the gun), then the gun will be transferred for the payment of a $200 fee. This is a tax and when you get your transfer permit, it will have a tax stamp on it. This permit is what proves that you can legally own the gun in the United States. Whenever you carry the gun to a range, you should always carry a copy of this permit with you. Otherwise, you stand the risk of having the gun confiscated and the legal hassle of then having it returned to you.

The process for buying a fully transferrable Class III weapon is fairly straight forward. If you find a gun that you want to buy, if it is in-state, then it must first be transferred to a Class III dealer by the seller. Then, the Class III dealer can transfer the weapon to you. The transfer of the gun from the seller to an in-state dealer then to you will result in the imposition of one transfer tax of $200.

If the seller is out of state, there are a few more hoops to jump through. First, the seller must transfer the gun to a Class III dealer. The Class III dealer that is out of state must then transfer the gun to a Class III dealer within your state. Your Class III dealer will then transfer the gun to you. The BATF looks at this as being two transfers (seller to dealer and then dealer to buyer) and imposes the transfer tax twice. So, an out of state transfer to you ends up costing $400. Often, the seller will pick up half of this though.

Only two pieces of paperwork are involved, the application (which must be signed by the head of law enforcement in your town or a judge) and a fingerprint card (which can be done by the police department). Time varies. If an interstate transfer, from 3 to 6 months. If in-state, then 60-120 days. It all depends on how backed up the BATF is. Many say they can't get the head of their law enforcement to sign. But, if you have a friend that is a lawyer, he may have contact with a judge that is willing to sign.

All of this is a bit simpler if the gun is a C&R (Curio and Relics) and not a tube. But, you pay a premium for a C&R classified weapon.

It is really tough to get a Class III license today. The biggest requirement is that you have a "store front". This means that you can't be a dealer and sell off of your kitchen table. This was quite common at one time in the US but has been severely constrained in the last few years by the BATF. In fact, most of the Class III dealers in my area are getting out of the business as the paperwork can be too daunting for a few sales a year.

Many seem to be going the "manufacturers" way today. These guns are really limited in transferability though. So, they also are alot cheaper. Again, this would require some cooperation from local law enforcement.

Prices therefore vary greatly. The cheapest fully transferrable MP44 within the US that I've seen recently was $7500 with one magazine. It was bought within minutes of its posting.

I went to an estate auction about a year ago that had some german militaria. The auctioneer related that after the vet passed away, they were looking through his house and found one of these underneath his bed. His kids never knew about it, they figured he had mailed it home in pieces.

The auctioneer called the local cops, who called the ATF, who took it away (Unfortunately the guy had never registered it).

Does anyone know what happens to these confiscated weapons? I would hope they would go to a museum instead of being melted down.
Fred

[J Melvin]

Fred, typically they are destroyed.