Hypothetical follow up question
What happens if? My grandfather passes away and in his stash of guns is an original Thompson 1930s model tommy gun. No paperwork to be found just an old relic thats been in a closet for 70 years.
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Goodbye Mr. Thompson. Mark C may be able to give you some guidance.
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Silence is golden.
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from my limited knowledge , It cant be registered and has to be turned over to the fellows in the dark suits with no compensation and most likely no thank you
and a truly wild guess possible class 3 or 4 ? do not remember the exact one but is for gun manufacturing licenses FFL holder might be be able to keep it or use it I think Mark has such a licenses and maybe more on here that will chime in all I know for sure no way legally for you to keep it
tempted to keep it would be a very high risk of some day being found out and the BATF frowns on that. just another stupid law
the law my opinion all it really did was take having a full auto out of the reach of joe average and into the hands of people with $$$ I think last I head a registered Thompson was 30 to 40k ( another guess I have not priced one for years )
I saw just just a few days ago a auto sear for a AR15 just a stamped piece of sheet metal with a serial # that was registered are now worth 15 to 20 k
the dealers with the right licenses can make one out of a parts kit or build a new one but has to add a serial number and register it with the black suit fellows and log into there bound books , as a post sample but can only be sold / transferred to another dealer with the same level licenses or kept for the own use and not allowed to let any one else use it sadly the cost of such firearms is many ,many times less almost dirt cheap compared to a transferable version ,, because joe average is not allowed to buy or own it
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Bury it somewhere for the apocalypse????😜
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Close the closet door. Close your mouth.
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What chiefr, and ROY222 said.
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...If it's original 1930's, and you want to be legal...get an ATF Form 4, pay the tax and wait about a year and it should be legal if your s local does not prohibit ownership...as for as I know...
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I recommend you saw cut it and sell off the parts. It can never be registered . The sooner the better, you do not want to get caught with an unregistered class 3 weapon for any reason. There are no acceptable excuses for possession.
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Texas1911DE: 31153109180571/comments/31153090727451
...If it's original 1930's, and you want to be legal...get an ATF Form 4, pay the tax and wait about a year and it should be legal if your s local does not prohibit ownership...as for as I know...
Not since 1986. Thanks to Ronald Reagan, any machine gun that was not registered by 1986 can never be registered.
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....ANOTHER worthless, stupid, gun law...these idiots never learn, hell, a pipe wrench can be lethal if you whack someone in the head with it hard enough...then plumbers will have a tougher job...
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A few years ago a local small police department was upgrading equipment and looking to sell 4 Thompsons that they had for many decades.
According to what I heard from a good source, they could not transfer them in any way shape or form, due to Federal laws.
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How good is your local congresscritter? Could they slip a "special exemption" in a bill? But even asking would run the risk of a whistle blower turning you in.
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Best advise for NEXT time, do NOT post it as a hypothetical question on the INTERNET 😁 Since that ship has already sailed, it seems from the above posts that you are gonna "hypothetically" be without said gun 😪 In the future, I would keep those questions to myself then NO ONE will know. Cats out of the bag now because I am SURE this is being read as we type 😲
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No more amnesty . Hypothetically there is a difference going to jail or prison
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In 1933 would you tell a "T" man you had Double Eagles in the house?-----------------Ray
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Possession is nine tents of the law. Un-posses it some place and forget where, when they come a knocking.-----------------------Ray
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Time to install that new concrete paved driveway you have always wanted. Use plenty of rebar . . . cuz, metal detectors and stuff.
Don't forget to take accurate measurements, when you lay it out. You know, for "historical purposes".
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Back before I retired from the New York State Military Museum, every so often someone would walk in the door with a box. Usually with a gun found in the house from grandpa.
I've taken in two Japanese " Knee " mortars, a German MP44 Assault Rifle, an MP 40 Sub Machine gun, an M3 Sub machine gun, several assorted military pistols, several assorted live hand grenades, a live Japanese white phosphorus mortar round, and a Japanese T96 Light Machine gun. All of this stuff was operational. We also received on a regular basis, military grade weapons from the State Police and ATF. Usually from officers and their supervisors who were interested in the Military Museum. I had the New York State Police and New York National Guard EOD on speed dial🙂
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Thanks for all the answers. If this was a true scenario my mama raised ugly children not stupid ones. I wouldn't have said squat about it to anyone, especially over the interweb.
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So…can we get a “hypothetical” range report on your tommy gun?
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scooterdriver: 31153109180571/comments/31153096659867
So…can we get a “hypothetical” range report on your tommy gun?
Well, hypothetically they do well when fired from the running board of a moving 1928 Cadillac.
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On a dom. vio. case the husband ratted out his wife that she had illegal pistols & one had a silencer. Turned out that it was a US Gov. Hi standard 22 issued to her father in WWII. I told the husband that I could arrest both of them, since it was in his house & he knew about it, oops. Her father had been in the OSS & held the record for the most time behind enemy lines. So, I cleared it with the Prosecutor & no one was charged. I contacted the Smithsonian & they gladly sent someone to pick it up along with the documentation she had.
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If you "hypothetically " called the nearest ATF field office and explained the situation they would come out, check the registry and see if it was registered before July '86. If so, they will help you file a form 5 on your $40,000 gun. If not they will take your felony waiting to happen away with no consequence to you.
Mark is not the only SOT dealer on these forums btw.
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Texas1911DE: 31153109180571/comments/31153090727451
...If it's original 1930's, and you want to be legal...get an ATF Form 4, pay the tax and wait about a year and it should be legal if your s local does not prohibit ownership...as for as I know...
Wrong, sorry but most people don't understand NFA Laws. Unless it was registered before the July 1986 cut off date it is %100 illegal for anyone to possess and will be destroyed.
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And there goes a piece of history.
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jimdeere: 31153109180571/comments/31153098027675
And there goes a piece of history.
The "winners" always get to rewrite (or destroy) history.
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While it may not be possessed by an individual if it was not already papered by May 1986, I believe it can still be possessed by the military- including a bona fide military museum. If that is correct, find a museum, donate, take a $30,000 tax writeoff.
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Are you sure your grandfather didn't transfer possession to a trust? ;)
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While there are a couple of nice private military museums in the US, I believe that unregistered NFA items can only be registered to the DOD Military Museum system. And, that system already has as many USGI Thompsons, some new in the crate, as they could ever need.
Neal
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So could it be modified to semi automatic only by a gunsmith and become legal.
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