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"bring back" guns

sgm hag
Really new here and not familiar with some terms like Bring Backs. I've read about them and a 1986 cutoff ruling but don't know what it means. Would appreciate some enlightening.
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  • Nwcid
    For the 1986 cut off read the NFA FAQ above.
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  • mark christian
    "Bring Backs" typically refer to firearms which were brought back to the United States by members of our armed forces who served overseas. Although the Dough boys brought back quite a few souvenirs from the Great War, most often the term Bring Back refers to WWII firearms from Germany, Italy or Japan. Just what was brought back varied from a Luger or P-38 Pistol all the way up to an MG-42 or Type 99 Machine Gun. There were specific forms which had to be filled out and approved for legal possession by the GI owner and you'll often see the term "Papered" to describe a bring back that has it's official release paperwork along with it. Although there were supposed to be restrictions on the return of items like machine guns to the United States, the reality was that quite a few were brought back to the States by enterprising GIs who often mailed them home, in some cases at government expense. By the Korea War things had tightened up and one of our Korean War vets described having to strip down to his skivvies while all of his gear was inspected before being allowed ship out. Never the less, there are a lot of PPSH "Burp Guns" in the United States that found their way home from Korea so I guess for every guy standing there in his underwear being searched, two more just walked onto the boat with no inspection at all. Only limited numbers of firearms were brought back from Vietnam before the importation of surplus military firearms ended in late 1968, and most of those were SKS carbines, although some AK-47s did manage to make it to the States. Any National Firearms Act weapons like machine guns which had been brought back into this country needed to be registered by the end of November 1968 to be legal to posses, after that the window for importation of machine guns for private ownership ended. This is why the vast majority of full auto AKs in private hands are semi automatic conversions which were legally converted before the 1986 ban on the production of new machine for private ownership. There is no longer any mechanism in the law to allow for individual service members to bring back war trophies form over seas.
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  • nmyers
    By War Dept definition, a "war trophy" had to be a firearm manufactured by a foreign country.

    There is another name for "bring backs" that were USGI issue: "stolen US property".

    Neal
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  • babun
    quote:Originally posted by nmyers
    By War Dept definition, a "war trophy" had to be a firearm manufactured by a foreign country.

    There is another name for "bring backs" that were USGI issue: "stolen US property".

    Neal


    There is also another name for "bring backs" that were USGI issue:
    A "thank you", from your country that you served and defended. Bob
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  • Hawk Carse
    Grandpa knew he was stealing that .45 when he filed off the US Property stamp. It is not an ethical problem to me and not a legal problem, unless he got the serial number, too. That makes it contraband to the feds and makes criminals of his heirs just for keeping it. Not that they are doing door to door searches or tracking down gunboard posters... yet.
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  • Fatstrat
    I've talked to vets from both WW-2 theaters. And they have told me that the Captain of the home bound troop ship often decided what if ANY souvenir weapons he would allow on board his ship. And for whatever reasons, there apparently were many ship captains that were uncomfortable w/having armed GI's on their ship. And they were free to impose an Arms Ban. Either prior to loading, and also underway and at sea. I've spoken to several who reported throwing their bring backs overboard when searches of GI baggage began while at sea.
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  • sgm hag
    Thanks for all the responses, very informative. So, hypotherically, if an heir had a burper that had no barrel or magazine back when they inheirited it, and no ocean to "throw overboard" in, would they automatically be a criminal? Listen carefully.
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  • ltcdoty
    I work at a military museum and we constantly have walk in donations of firearms ranging from Lugers, Japanese Knee mortars, German MP40s and MP44s, a Japanese Type 98 Light Machine gun, and live grenades. Plus many U.S. weapons from "Grease Guns", to 1911s.

    Most come from widows or children of WWII veterans. Ninety- nine percent of it is operational.
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  • mark christian
    quote:Originally posted by sgm hag
    Thanks for all the responses, very informative. So, hypotherically, if an heir had a burper that had no barrel or magazine back when they inheirited it, and no ocean to "throw overboard" in, would they automatically be a criminal? Listen carefully.


    If it was not registered before the close of the 1968 amnesty then it cannot be registered now and any such possession is illegal. Once upon a time simply plugging the barrel or removing it entirely was considered to be good enough to exempt the gun from registration and many such machine guns were modified that way. Once again, this ended at the close of 1968.

    You only get ten posts in this particular forum so it is a lot easier to just tell us what is on your mind. Once you get your answer your entire topic can be deleted if you specifically request it.
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  • babun
    quote:Originally posted by babun
    quote:Originally posted by nmyers
    By War Dept definition, a "war trophy" had to be a firearm manufactured by a foreign country.

    There is another name for "bring backs" that were USGI issue: "stolen US property".

    Neal


    There is also another name for "bring backs" that were USGI issue:
    A "thank you", from your country that you served and defended. Bob


    Sorry, but I feel very strongly about this "issue" . If a man {many times, just a boy} goes off to war and is given a M1/m14/m16/1911, whatever, He depends on that piece to save HIS life and the lives of his fellow soldiers. He has used that gun to draw a line in the sand, and tell the whole world, "This is America, and this is what we stand for". He earned that gun. It is HIS gun. And NO politician or law maker, nor someone typing on the internet, can ever say other wise.
    I wish EVERY soldier that served in combat zones, comes home with THEIR weapon. Bob
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