Acquiring a machine gun manufactured after May 19, 1986, for private ownership in the United States is highly restricted and regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA). These regulations effectively prohibit the transfer or possession of newly manufactured machine guns to individuals, with limited exceptions for government entities, law enforcement agencies, and dealers licensed under the Federal Firearms License (FFL) system with Special Occupational Taxpayer (SOT) status. Those transferable machine guns manufactured before the cutoff date are registered and can be legally transferred between licensed individuals and entities following strict Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) guidelines. Attempting to possess unregistered or illegally modified automatic weapons carries severe legal consequences.
The rationale behind these regulations stems from concerns about public safety and the potential for misuse of fully automatic firearms. The Hughes Amendment to the FOPA aimed to curb the proliferation of these weapons among civilians. Consequently, the post-1986 market comprises a finite number of legally transferable machine guns. This limited availability has significant implications for collectors, researchers, and those involved in security operations requiring such specialized firearms. Access to these weapons for government and law enforcement purposes is considered vital for maintaining national security and effective law enforcement operations.
