Is it possible to buy a 155mm artillery piece on the market?

[kentuck]

With the rounds?

Would it be legal to set it up in your back yard and point it whatever direction you wanted?

You can target stuff easily from more than a mile away.

Would the NRA draw the line with artillery pieces?

What about the 175mm (Atomic Annie) that can shoot a nuclear round? Would that be acceptable to have as a collector's item?

Is there a line they would draw with any type of weapon?

I rather doubt it.

[spanone]

1. well, they want their militia well armed.....

[Recursion]

2. Can we please learn the state of gun laws before we complain?

No, not for the past 80 years, and nobody's talking about overturning that law.

[kentuck]

3. Have machine guns been banned also?

And is there really that big of a difference between machine guns and assault weapons?

[Duckhunter935]

4. functionally yes

[kentuck]

5. Can you hunt ducks with a machine gun?

Would it be effective?

[HubertHeaver]

6. You could set up a machine gun in a duckblind.

You won't get any ducks.

[kentuck]

7. How come?

Wouldn't ducks be falling out of the air when you pulled off a few quick spurts of machine gun fire??

[HubertHeaver]

10. You've never fired a machine gun, have you?

After the first "spurt" ducks are gone.

Hunters on the other side of the lake are pissed.

[kentuck]

11. Actually, I have.

But I emptied the magazine instead of shooting in "spurts" and was escorted off the range. Bullets were flying everywhere. They must have thought I wasn't safe around machine guns.

[HubertHeaver]

32. I think they had a vision of reality.

Much like my experience. First burst went way high.

[kentuck]

37. Yeah, that was the problem...

I think it was a 50MM... But it kept wanting to ride upwards the more I fired? I was only attempting to mow down the target....

[mwrguy]

56. 50mm ?

That's almost 2" in diameter.

That's a cannon.

[raidert05]

34. LOL...

[Bigmack]

40. Burned out barrel... stoppage... bad stuff...

..if you fire loooong bursts.

My Gunny had a way of keeping you from firing long bursts.

A size 13 EE .....

[JoeyT]

50. Nope, for that you need one of these:

That gun isn't illegal to own or shoot, but it's illegal to hunt with.

[meanit]

8. On the class III form

I seem to remember authentic assault rifles defined as machine guns.

[kentuck]

9. But weren't "machine guns" declared illegal in the 1920's?

Then would assault weapons be illegal also, under the letter of the law??

[dionysus]

12. no, actually, you can get them, it's very expensive

[Recursion]

13. No. Assault weapons are normal rifles that look like military guns

The AWB didn't regulate how fast guns can fire, it regulated what the fastest-firing class of legal guns could look like.

[oldhippie]

14. No .....

.... and no.

Why are you pursuing this worthless line of questioning? Building your post count? Or really don't you have anything productive to do on a Sunday evening? Me, I'm watching the Texans get their butt kicked.

[kentuck]

17. Then why are you answering.

I left because I felt sorry for the Texans and was trying to have a thoughtful discussion. Thanks for your input.

[meanit]

23. It was the machine gun act of 1934 I believe,

that made it very hard for a private citizen to obtain a machine gun, but not impossible. It takes a federal transfer tax to be paid, criminal and IRS background checks and the signed permission of the local police chief in order to buy a fully automatic machine gun.
With that said, yes, true assault weapons that can go full auto cannot just be had at the local gun dealer. What can be bought by the public are exact copies of these military assault weapons that can only fire semi auto, or as fast as you can pull the trigger. These are what your Bushmasters, etc., are.

[kentuck]

27. But aren't they rather easily fixed to fire automatic??

It's not that complicated from what I have read.

[meanit]

31. If you can obtain the parts

and have the know how, I believe any semi auto fire arm can be made full auto. Absolutely illegal to do or possess, though.

[kentuck]

33. Do you have to have an extra part?

Or do you just have to remove a part that keeps it from shooting automatic? Maybe someone has knowledge of this part?

[HooptieWagon]

35. Its a different mechanism.

The parts permitting automatic fire are as tightly regulated as automatic weapons themselves. Plus, it takes machining skills to install them and modify the gas ports. Its not a DIY job.

[meanit]

38. I'm not sure

what actually needs to be done to make a semi auto firearm fully automatic. It may differ from gun to gun? Hopefully it is not easy to do.
But I have heard stories of it being attempted by idiots, although unsuccessfully.

[raidert05]

39. Most of them...

That are semi-automatic have to have the lower receiver milled to fit the extra parts, which most people can't do and is completely illegal, there are bump-fire setups, I'm not exactly sure how they work, but I do know that they will wear a gun out faster.

[NickB79]

55. The legal parts themselves are registered as Class III weapons

For example: http://www.gunsamerica.com/976862816/Guns/Rifles/Class-3/Class-3-Any-Other-Weapon/AR_15_Registered_Drop_in_Auto_Sear.htm

And: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=AR-15+auto+sear&qpvt=AR-15+auto+sear&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=F45CFCB7BAB24CE50146D189BB13C2A656B9BC35&selectedIndex=20

A little piece of metal is all it is. Legal to own, if you first go through a year of red tape with the FBI and pay $8000 or more.

[crazyjoe]

36. machine guns are not illegal at all...just difficult and expensive to get a license.

Have you ever seen the show Sons of Guns? The build an fire machine guns for private clients in every show. They also blow up alot of shit out in the woods of Louisiana.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. State of gun laws?

It's not like the pro gunnies haven't fought to un-wind gun control laws.

[Crepuscular]

15. Don't know about 155mm

but you used to be able to purchase artillery pieces as a private citizen.Here are a few pics from a catalog that I have for the "Service Armament Company" circa 1963.

They sold WWII surplus arms, you could purchase artillery, mortars, anti-aircraft guns, etc. as well as the ammunition. The only requirement on the order sheet was that you had to be an American Citizen.

[IMG][/IMG]


[IMG][/IMG]

[Recursion]

16. Pretty sure those were disabled (nt)

[Crepuscular]

26. Don't think so

Here is the description for the 37MM Boffors anti-tank cannon -

"Made for the armies of various Scandinavian countries, it is chambered for the 37MM Boffors round which we have in large quantity. This cannon can easily be put in the back of a pick-up truck for transportation to the nearest firing range or sand pit for firing."

That would lead me to belief that they were not disabled.

Some of the captured German weapons were marked as de-milled and for collectors only but a lot of the artillery appears to be fully functional.

[kentuck]

20. Be sorta hard to get one of those in a schoolroom, though..

May be safer than assault rifles?

[thucythucy]

19. Doesn't Arnold Schwarzenneger own a tank? nt.

[TheMightyFavog]

24. There's some Sherman Tanks in private hands

[d_r]

41. have a rich uncle?

[ileus]

21. Why don't you just stick with small arms like AR's and AK's

Either of these are better suited for home and self defense than artillery.

[kentuck]

22. I am just curious to where the NRA would draw the line?

If at all?

[Scuba]

25. ICBM's with nuke warheads. Only one per household.

[kentuck]

28. Sounds about right.

[RKP5637]

52. With a Walmart voucher! n/t

[hack89]

42. I think they support the line as it was drawn in 1934

they have never suggest the NFA be rescinded.

[bluedigger]

29. A mile?

Try well over 20kms, depending on your chosen munitions. Of course, your rate of fire would be kind of slow by yourself.

[kentuck]

30. Been a long time since I was in an artillery unit..

We practiced on an old car about 5 miles away as I recall. Add 300 and fire for effect. But that was at Ft Sill, OK about 1967.

[GP6971]

43. There were a lot of posts I wanted to avoid

Sill was one of them. There are only two left on my list of the many posts I wanted to avoid.....Sill & Hood. Well, that looks that' going down the tubes, at least for Hood......my son is on orders to the 3rd ACR

[Adsos Letter]

47. Best wishes to your son from a 2nd ACR vet.

[TexasPaganDem]

44. This guy is selling one.

http://www.cannonsuperstore.com/m1918.html

It even states that it's an antique that doesn't require registration or transfer tax. The barrel plug just keeps out contaminates, just remove and it's ready to go.

Can be yours for only $18K.

[oneshooter]

46. The breech block is missing.

The third picture shows that both the breech block and it's mounting have been removed.
It has been de-milled.(demilitarized)

[oneshooter]

49. This 90mm T8 is/was for sale

The gun is from WW2, the ammo is cast solid shot, no explosives. What you are seeing is kinetic energy from the solid shot.

[Recursion]

51. Good lord. A bag gun

Find a canvas sack with two pounds of blackpowder and you're in business.

[jmowreader]

45. An operating howitzer is considered a Destructive Device

The National Firearms Act of 1934 would class your howitzer under both provisions of the Destructive Device clause:

The piece itself is over 12.7mm.

And the rounds it fires are considered to be bombs.

So no...if you don't weld the breech of your howitzer shut, you can't have one.

[Adsos Letter]

48. Let me know if you get one.

I haven't used my FO skills in almost 40 years. I'll bring the beer.

[Major Nikon]

53. There are people who own personal tanks, jet fighters, and prop bombers

Just sayin'

[moondust]

54. Surely the FF pondered that.

And decided it was okay because they didn't place any limitations in the 2nd Amendment on who can own what or how many. Anything goes, baby!

Personal nukes for everybody!