Anonymous Gun Control Poll

[Scumpup]

@Ranchoth

“you can own a gatling gun if you want, but if anyone commits a crime with it, you get the chair”?

Hell, I’d probably be up for the latter, myself.

Gatling guns, because they are manually operated, are not legally regarded as machineguns. IOW, you can already own one free of any of the tax stamps and other paperwork associated with owning a machinegun. The primary reason you don’t see too many of them is that nobody is currently mass-producing them for the commercial market. Fom time to time, if you read gun magazines or frequent gun boards, you’ll see where somebody with the right skills and tools built himself one. Blue prints are available in Shotgun News and, I believe, Paladin Press still sells a “How to build yer own” book.

[Una_Persson]

@Scumpup

Gatling guns, because they are manually operated, are not legally regarded as machineguns. IOW, you can already own one free of any of the tax stamps and other paperwork associated with owning a machinegun. The primary reason you don’t see too many of them is that nobody is currently mass-producing them for the commercial market. Fom time to time, if you read gun magazines or frequent gun boards, you’ll see where somebody with the right skills and tools built himself one. Blue prints are available in Shotgun News and, I believe, Paladin Press still sells a “How to build yer own” book.

I don’t want to debate, but ask a question as a point in fact - did not the ATF rule in the 1990’s that crank-winders violated the NFA and McClure-Volker (because they created a “new” NFA weapon)? And if that was in fact the case, it seems to me that a Gatling gun would have similar problems.

[Scumpup]

You can read here about how the BATFE defines what is a machinegun. The main point is that a machinegun fires more than one shot with a single action of the trigger. Cheaper Than Dirt, Cabelas. and other such companies are still selling crank-activators like the BMF Activator. You may be thinking of the Akins Accelerator, which was a spring-loaded stock gimmick that allowed the user to easily bump-fire a semi-automatic rifle. BATFE initially approved it, then after some were sold changed their minds and declared it to be a machinegun.

[Ranchoth]

@Scumpup

Gatling guns, because they are manually operated, are not legally regarded as machineguns. IOW, you can already own one free of any of the tax stamps and other paperwork associated with owning a machinegun.

Buying a hand-cranked Gatling gun, in this day and age? Ridiculous.

A steam-driven system is clearly the superior option. This “elec-tricity” dross is merely a fad.

[Scumpup]

I should note that motor-driven variants are legally different from the unregulated hand-cranked models. Apparently, RG-G Inc. is offering complete gatling guns, as well as kits and plans, if you are looking for somewhere to spend that income tax refund.

[Roderick_Femm]

I picked the bottom choice, all guns should be legal, for these reasons:

1. It would be impossible in the US to effectively ban guns, with 2 very long and porous borders and 2 very long coastlines to police. Attempting to ban guns completely would only create a lucrative, criminal and well-armed black market.

2. There is nothing inherently evil in owning guns, and to ban them is to violate human rights.

3. A partial ban is an unfair imposition on the law-abiding in not having means to protect themselves from those willing to break the law anyway, by having guns and then by using them in crimes.

So this answer is geared to the US only. Small island nations like England and Japan, that also have a long history of gun restriction, are probably much safer than the US. But I just don’t think we can get there from here. And maybe safety isn’t everything.
Roddy