"Class III Dealers want the NFA to go away as much as you do"

[Guest]

Nope. Wrong. Uh uh.

Not when they're so busy hunting down police departments that happen to have an NFA registered Thompson or BAR, offering the cops a few new M16s for that "old gun", and then selling it to make tens of thousands on that one piece of hardware.

Ask yourself if a dealer really wants to say goodbye to such an easy way of making money.

That's just one of dozens of ways that the NFA enables dealers to make obscene profits and keeps high end collecting a rarified atmosphere for those who want it 'exclusive'. Your only class III is a *sniff* Ingram? Peasant, now admire my *sniff* M249.

Drug cartels probably secretly lobby to ensure nothing is decriminalized or legalized on a major level, otherwise their organizations and profits would collapse. Do you think it's any different with the NFA?

[Telperion]

Hey, you should ask them if they want the 1968 GCA repealed.    I figure most FFLs would go out of business, with the remainder having to adapt to a very different business model if that beast died.

[jefnvk]

So, you think they'd rather make a few thousand on a couple of guns, than a couple hundred on many more new guns?

I can't believe that a Class III dealer does more than a few transfers a year.  I don't know numbers, correct me if I am wrong, but I would think that if the registry were opened, they would sell a WHOLE lot more than what they currently do.

[Firethorn]

So, you think they'd rather make a few thousand on a couple of guns, than a couple hundred on many more new guns?

That was my thought.
$5,000 profit x 1 gun a year is < $10 profit x 1000 guns a year

Full auto isn't that tough of a feature if the gun is already at least a semi-auto.

The military gets M-16s and their varients, for what, half of what we can get an AR-15 for?

[Telperion]

I would think that if the registry were opened, they would sell a WHOLE lot more than what they currently do.

But the gun business is not about making money, it is about saying "NO!"

[Firethorn]

I figure the price of a cherry Thompson, minus a select-fire AR-15 or two, is still very much above five thousand. And sometimes they're finding five or so vintage transferables at once.

Yeah, but opportunities like that are rare and rapidly getting rarer.  Such that there are often only one to three class three's in a state.

Meanwhile, if new machine guns were legal, they'd be able to sell a whole lot more of them.

Besides, a 'cherry' original run thompson is going to be $$$ even if new machine guns become legal.  They're antiques, famous, well built, in the movies left and right...  They're a collector's item.

[Pb]

I thought cops NFA weapons could not be transferred to civilians.  Wrong?

[Chris Rhines]

I can speak only for myself, but as an FFL I would LOVE for the GCA68 to disappear.

I can always figure out ways to make money, but obtaining and preserving freedom is another thing entirely.

- Chris

[Guest]

I can speak only for myself, but as an FFL I would LOVE for the GCA68 to disappear.

I can always figure out ways to make money, but obtaining and preserving freedom is another thing entirely.

- Chris

In all honesty, if the GCA68 were repealed, I would probably never set foot into a gun shop again. It would just be impossible to compete with massive online sellers with the overhead produced by a small shop.

[jefnvk]

I thought cops NFA weapons could not be transferred to civilians.  Wrong?

Not positive, but I believe that there were a few different ways for cops to paper their guns.  One that means it never again can be transfered to private hands, and another in which it is viewed the same as a private gun.

I figure the price of a cherry Thompson, minus a select-fire AR-15 or two, is still very much above five thousand. And sometimes they're finding five or so vintage transferables at once.

Take a look at some rarer non-NFA C&R guns. Many snipers still go for thousands of dollars.  Heck, M1 Garands and Carbines are reaching four digits.  Thompsons may not go for the $20,000 that a cherry one goes for now, but I still would bet that they would still go for many thousands of dollars.

[molonlabe]

I doubt that alot of people who invested in these machibne guns (yes a lot are doctors too) would not want it to go away.

[El Tejon]

jefnvk, you silly supply siders!:D  No, the gun business is about telling people "NO!", not making money as Tel correctly points out.

The lobbying group for FFLs is foursquare behind regulation and lots of it.  They were actively pursuing additional ATFE regulation and more statutes.  Regulation acts as a fence to keep a barrier to entry (saying "No!") to start up businesses.

"No!" is a money substitute in the gun business.

[jefnvk]

Ah ha, I gotcha!

[Monkeyleg]

The Class III dealers I've talked to (in the course of calling shops for my site) have said that their margins on full-auto's are not as high as on traditional guns. The reason being that, with prices as high as they are now, they just can't mark them up that much.

Dunno if that's the truth for everyone, but it is for those I've spoken with.

[pauli]

shouldn't this be over at thr?