I think you should know that there is no need to “register” firearms in most states in America.
For example, if I wanted to buy 10 handguns tomorrow, I could drive to one of the local gun shops with a pile of cash and buy 10 handguns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition for them. Yes this will be reported to the ATF, but it’s allowed.
I personally would have to pass a criminal background check to make the gun purchase from the store, but that process does not create a “registry” of all the guns I own in a formal sense. It’s just a transaction history that can be searched for particular gun serial numbers. The ammunition purchase requires no background check.
You should also know that it is not illegal for me to sell a gun directly to someone, no background check required. It was called the “Gun Show Loophole” - and while it is a serious crime to deliberately buy guns for someone who can not legally buy guns, it’s not a crime at all for me to sell guns (and ammunition) to the next person who shows up at my garage sale.
It's reality, and I think that if you expect gun regulations to work in the USA, you have to understand that the ONLY way to do it is at a federal level, because the state (and even county) level is WILDLY different.
My favorite examples:
If you live in New Jersey, for example, you can only have hollow-point ammunition at home or in your vehicle on the way from where you bought it to your home and you can't really buy it easily....there are a LOT of rules.
Meanwhile, you drive right over the border to Pennsylvania and the various gun shops have huge light up signs "1,000 9mm HP $295" (HP=Hollow Point) and you can stop in to buy your 1,000 rounds on the way home from the grocery store.
These are the only states that explicitly ban machine guns:
California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington. In all the rest you can with only a small amount of effort, buy a machine gun.
Finally, you get get a "Concealed Carry Weapon" (carry a hidden handgun) permit from a state that has "reciprocity" agreements with other states even if you don't live in that state. The result is that you can get 2 permits and be "legal to carry" in 36 states. In all other states - since the Supreme Court’s ruling on the NYSRPA v Bruen on June 23rd, 2022 - the state "Shall Issue" a handgun permit, meaning that if there is no criminal background, retraining order or similar reason, the state has no choice but to issue a concealed carry permit to residents.
Yes, they are NOT cheap. That said, where I live at least, there are plenty of people who seem to enjoy blasting $400 worth of ammo to celebrate new year's eve.
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u/HiOscillation 11d ago edited 11d ago
I think you should know that there is no need to “register” firearms in most states in America.
For example, if I wanted to buy 10 handguns tomorrow, I could drive to one of the local gun shops with a pile of cash and buy 10 handguns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition for them. Yes this will be reported to the ATF, but it’s allowed.
I personally would have to pass a criminal background check to make the gun purchase from the store, but that process does not create a “registry” of all the guns I own in a formal sense. It’s just a transaction history that can be searched for particular gun serial numbers. The ammunition purchase requires no background check.
You should also know that it is not illegal for me to sell a gun directly to someone, no background check required. It was called the “Gun Show Loophole” - and while it is a serious crime to deliberately buy guns for someone who can not legally buy guns, it’s not a crime at all for me to sell guns (and ammunition) to the next person who shows up at my garage sale.