Guns like AR pistols were set to be added to a class of weapons that require special registration and tax stamps to be paid to be legally possessed. That proposed change has been withdrawn
Canadian who’s firearms are currently heavily under siege.
I understood the eli5 but could you add some more context as I’m not up to date on what you guys are fighting for. What guns do require special registration and maybe why they tried to group these similarly?
The NFA (National Firearms Act) classifies firearms. There's long guns (rifles, shotguns), short guns (handguns, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns), and so on. Some of these are outright banned, like sawed-off shotguns and fully automatic firearms (machine guns), some are fully legal as far as the feds go (most handguns, most rifles, most shotguns), and then there's "any other item", which require federal registration and payment of a $200 tax. For example, silencers fall into "any other item" (why use silencers? they're very good to have when hunting to avoid scaring all the game, and at the range to save our ears). We call forbidden and any other items "NFA items". Generally forbidden items from before their bans are grandfathered, so if you have a machine gun from prior to the ban, it's legal, but it requires registration and tax.
Any time the ATF wants to make a class of firearms into NFA items, we get pissed off. It's basically them encroaching on our rights. They're always picking nits, but then, the market is always skirting near the edge of current regulations, so any nit they pick is likely to turn a large number of guns into NFA items.
Now, AR-15 pistols are very popular in the U.S. They're lighter and shorter than full-length rifles, and they're very fun. So turning these into NFA items would instantly make millions of Americans into felons unless they take steps to redress the problem.
In the U.S. there's a huge list of federal crimes to add to the even bigger lists of State crimes. Every American commits some felonies in their lifetimes without even knowing about it. Mens rea (Latin for "guilty mind") is not even a required element in most of these crazy felonies. Crazy examples include picking up eagle feathers in national parks (or is it anywhere? I forget). Yes! Eagle feathers! Felony! Nuts!
Guns like AR pistols were set to be added to a class of weapons that require special registration and tax stamps to be paid to be legally possessed. That proposed change has been withdrawn
Canadian who’s firearms are currently heavily under siege.
I understood the eli5 but could you add some more context as I’m not up to date on what you guys are fighting for. What guns do require special registration and maybe why they tried to group these similarly?
The NFA (National Firearms Act) classifies firearms. There's long guns (rifles, shotguns), short guns (handguns, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns), and so on. Some of these are outright banned, like sawed-off shotguns and fully automatic firearms (machine guns), some are fully legal as far as the feds go (most handguns, most rifles, most shotguns), and then there's "any other item", which require federal registration and payment of a $200 tax. For example, silencers fall into "any other item" (why use silencers? they're very good to have when hunting to avoid scaring all the game, and at the range to save our ears). We call forbidden and any other items "NFA items". Generally forbidden items from before their bans are grandfathered, so if you have a machine gun from prior to the ban, it's legal, but it requires registration and tax.
Any time the ATF wants to make a class of firearms into NFA items, we get pissed off. It's basically them encroaching on our rights. They're always picking nits, but then, the market is always skirting near the edge of current regulations, so any nit they pick is likely to turn a large number of guns into NFA items.
Now, AR-15 pistols are very popular in the U.S. They're lighter and shorter than full-length rifles, and they're very fun. So turning these into NFA items would instantly make millions of Americans into felons unless they take steps to redress the problem.
In the U.S. there's a huge list of federal crimes to add to the even bigger lists of State crimes. Every American commits some felonies in their lifetimes without even knowing about it. Mens rea (Latin for "guilty mind") is not even a required element in most of these crazy felonies. Crazy examples include picking up eagle feathers in national parks (or is it anywhere? I forget). Yes! Eagle feathers! Felony! Nuts!
sawed off shotguns are completely legal assuming you pay the gubmint for the "privilege" of owning one.