People aren’t buying automatic weapons now. You have to jump through a LOT of hoops to acquire an automatic gun, they can cost as much as $40K, and have to be manufactured before 1986. But 50 years ago they absolutely were available. They were banned in 1986.
Correction: they can cost as little as $40,000 now. That’s close to the minimum price for a legally tranferrable machine gun. An M134 minigun would currently run right around $200,000. There is no legal way for a regular person to get a post-'86 machine gun; dealer samples, et al. are not generally transferable (see also: Larry Vickers).
People aren’t buying automatic weapons now. You have to jump through a LOT of hoops to acquire an automatic gun, they can cost as much as $40K, and have to be manufactured before 1986. But 50 years ago they absolutely were available. They were banned in 1986.
Correction: they can cost as little as $40,000 now. That’s close to the minimum price for a legally tranferrable machine gun. An M134 minigun would currently run right around $200,000. There is no legal way for a regular person to get a post-'86 machine gun; dealer samples, et al. are not generally transferable (see also: Larry Vickers).