US gun control Four countries with gun control – and what America could learn from them The UK, Australia, Japan and Germany have all taken measures to reduce gun homicides. No illegal immigrants cannot legally own or even possess any guns or ammunition of any kind. Now an individual who is legally in the US but isn't a citizen, may possess firearms if they comply with all of the normal rules for possessing guns BUT they will have to jump through some extra hoops to be legal the BATF has that list on thier site.
In May of 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which among other things, made the sale of fully-automatic firearms, manufactured before that year, illegal. Owning the guns are still legal. It's just exceptionally difficult and very expensive.
After the Las Vegas attack which left at least 50 dead and more than 400 wounded, calls for banning full-auto firearms, along with plenty of misinformation, has become rampant. Radio host Andy Cohen, for painful instance, asked why we don't ban machine guns all together.
Thankfully a number of knowledgeable authors have helped clear the intellectual chamber— Christian Lowe of the Weekly Standard, Sean Davis of the Federalist, and Stephen Gutowski of the Free Beacon. To legally own a fully-automatic weapon requires three things: money, time, and an absolutely pristine criminal record.
Anyone who wants one must first…
Understand the difference between semi-automatic and fully-automatic guns: While a semi-automatic gun shoots a single bullet with a single pull of the trigger, a fully-automatic firearm shoots multiple, repeated rounds with a single trigger squeeze.
Have a raft of cash: When Reagan made owning a fully-automatic weapon manufactured after 1986 illegal, the federal government capped the supply making the guns left in circulation prohibitively expensive. For instance, while a brand new semi-automatic AR-15 can cost as little as $450, fully-automatic weapon cost tens of thousands of dollars regardless of their condition. At the Weekly Standard, Lowe writes that the guns can cost upwards of $20,000.
Any gun for sale must have been manufactured before 1986 and must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Records database. There are less than 500,000 full-auto weapons in circulation as opposed to the millions of semi-auto rifles.
Find a licensed dealer: Back in the 1930's machine guns, big belt-fed machines like those fired in the First World War, could be ordered through the mail. That's not possible today. Anyone who wants to own a fully-automatic weapon must find a dealer who possesses not only a Federal Firearms License, they have to find a dealer who has gone through additional background checks and who pays increased licensing fees.
'These dealers are referred to as FFL/SOT (special occupational tax) or Class 3 FFL dealers,' Davis explains over the Federalist. 'It is a lengthy and burdensome process that requires extensive investigation by ATF.'
Have a clean record: Before buying a fully-automatic weapon, a person must pay a $200-dollar tax and register an application with the federal government. That means filling out a 12-page application, submitting fingerprints, and sending photos to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Are you a felon? Are you or have you ever been committed to a mental institution? Are you a domestic abuser? Then good luck getting approval. Other than a few parking tickets, are you a citizen in good standing? Also, good luck getting approval. A record of civic responsibility isn't a guarantee of immediate approved. Click here to read the entire application and click here to read the accompanying questionnaire.
Have a lot of patience: Every application apparently varies but the average time seems to be between 9 months and a year. The good folks at the ATF take their time because they make certain that applicants dot their I's cross their T's and are considered safe and responsible to own the fully automatic firearm.
Abide by local, state, and federal gun regulations: Assuming one has the record and the patience to pass the background check along with the actual cash to purchase the firearm, that person now finds themselves subject to a host of new regulations.
As the Free Beacon's Gutowski explains, the ATF registers the new fully-automatic gun owner. They notify local law enforcement of the name and address of the person who owns the firearm. And they strictly regulate the transportation of these weapons. If a civilian wants to cross state lines with their new purchase (say to attend the Big Sandy machine gun shoot in Arizona), they'll have to apply for permission.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
Breaking News Emails
President Barack Obama on Tuesday recommended several measures designed to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous people who shouldn’t be allowed to own a deadly weapon.
A main tenet of his plan involves requiring anyone who sells a gun to obtain a license, which would then mean they would have to perform background checks on any potential gun buyer.
Obama Details Executive Action Plan on Gun Control
Jan. 5, 201601:18The measure is designed, in part, to keep guns from being sold without background checks at gun shows, privately and online, in what is often referred to as the “gun law loophole.” Obama announced that regulators would crack down on dealers who use these loopholes to avoid acquiring licenses, thereby skirting the requirement to perform background checks.
“We’ve created a system in which dangerous people are allowed to play by a different set of rules,” Obama said Tuesday. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Here's how that system currently works:
Where are guns sold?
In the U.S., there are more than 55,000 licensed gun dealers, according to a 2015 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report. That includes everything from small privately-owned gun shops and sporting goods stores to big chain stores that carry guns, like WalMart. Additionally, there are more than 8,000 pawn shops that are licensed to sell guns, according to the ATF.
Both licensed gun dealers and pawn shops are required by federal law to conduct background checks when selling guns. But not every gun-buyer goes the gun store route, and in a majority of states, gun sellers that aren’t licensed aren’t required to perform a background check, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Only 13 states require a background check to be performed no matter how a gun is sold or what kind of gun it is, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. In most states, guns can be sold between private parties like friends or acquaintances, but commonly these background-check-free gun sales occur are at gun shows.
Since 1994, background checks have prohibited more than 2.4 million gun purchases, but 40 percent of guns sold in the U.S. are still sold with “no questions asked,” according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “large numbers of firearms are sold anonymously” at more than 4,000 gun shows each year. That averages to about 11 gun shows on any given day.
Related: Obama Announcement Puts Gun Control at Center of 2016 Campaign
Guns can also be advertised online, but according to federal law, the actual sale of the firearm must happen at a licensed brick-and-mortar store, where it would be required to perform a background check as usual.
Obama said Tuesday that some gun sellers have been operating on the Internet without conducting background checks and that a study of one such site showed one in 30 people looking to buy a gun there had a criminal record.
What does the background check entail?
A system implemented in 1998 called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) amended 1991’s Brady Act, which originally mandated licensed gun sellers to conduct a background check, which came with a five-day waiting period.
But NICS, as indicated by its name, is designed to be instantaneous. In 2014, NICS achieved a 91 percent “immediate determination rate,” according to the FBI.
Obama Delivers Message to Critics of Background Checks on Guns
Jan. 5, 201600:35The other 9 percent are cases in which the FBI needs more time to check out the potential buyer. If the process, which usually includes contacting local authorities, can’t be completed in three business days, the licensed dealer can still sell the gun with an incomplete background check.
Related: Mistakes in Dylann Roof's Background Check Fuel Gun Law Debate
What keeps someone from buying a gun?
Nine types of people can be disqualified by a background check, including felons, fugitives, undocumented immigrants, drug addicts and people committed to mental institutions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
People who federally aren't allowed to buy guns:
- Felons
- Fugitives
- Drug addicts or unlawful drug users
- Persons committed to mental institutions or adjudicated as 'mentally defective'
- Persons dishonorably discharged from the armed forces
- Persons who have renounced their United States citizenship
- Illegal or nonimmigrant aliens
- Persons subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders
- Persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence
Licensed dealers are also prohibited from selling handguns to people under the age of 21 and rifles and shotguns to people under the age of 18, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Unlicensed sellers can’t sell handguns to anyone under the age of 18, but can “sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer a long gun or long gun (a rifle or shotgun) ammunition to a person of any age,” according to the Law Center.
Does the gun buyer need a license to own or carry?
Federal law does not require gun owners or purchasers to get a license, but 14 states mandate licensing to own all types or some types of guns, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Federal law also doesn’t restrict the open carrying of firearms in public, and 31 states allow the open carrying of a handgun without any license or permit, the Law Center reports.
How much does it cost to buy a gun?
At some retailers, including the chain Bass Pro Shops and some mom and pop gun stores, a customer can walk out with a rifle for just over $100 or a handgun for as little as $200.
Elisha Fieldstadt is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.