# You find a crate of Thompson submachine guns in the woods in England...then what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004 "2011-03-09T02:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/61 "2011-03-11T20:12:22Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Why 2 years? Is the military minimum less than the civilian one? For things that aren’t specifically offences under military discipline (stuff that doesn’t apply to most civilians), the principle is that the Military Courts are bound in sentencing by the civilian equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/62 "2011-03-11T20:48:00Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > IThey could try for theft, but they’d need to be able to show he meant to keep it, rather than just hanging on to it by accident Wrong. Possession of unlawful firearms is an absolute offence here, and the _mens rea_ is unimportant. ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/63 "2011-03-11T22:44:14Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Fully automatic weapons - machine guns- are perfectly legal in 46 of our 50 states. > > Og bless America. > > When my socialist BIL asks me why I need such toys, I ask why he owns and drives an Audi A-8 \*\*and \*\*a Porsche 911. A Nissan Leaf would get him to work, but the 911 is a bit faster and more fun to open up. And so is my MP-5. > > Like a Porsche, all it takes is money and paperwork. This is correct. Contrary to popular belief, full-auto weapons (machine guns, silencers, etc) are NOT illegal for common civilians to own under federal law in the USA. (There are a few states, though, that restrict them, as **ducati** has pointed out.) As was stated, all it takes is money, paperwork, and time. Generally, one submits a license application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, along with a set of FBI-certified fingerprints and background check, and a recommendation letter from one’s local law enforcement official (usually a sheriff). Payment of $200 is also submitted to the BATF, and after waiting for the bureaucratic machine to do its thing, the applicant, if approved, can take possession of pretty much any weapon, as long as the supplier is a holder of a Federal Firearms License (FFL). So yeah, in the US, as long as you meet the United States Code’s guidelines for gun ownership in general, live in one of those 46 states, have no criminal record, have $200 spare dollars and can finagle a recommendation from your local sheriff, you can own any damn machine gun you want. Or grenade launcher. Or silencer. Or pretty much anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/64 "2011-03-11T22:45:27Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > You forgot the [GLADIO](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio)caches of weapons in Europe that were established in the 50s onward in Italy for fear of the communists; most likely one of these caches was used for the [Oktoberfest bomb](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfestattentat). And the [Bologna Massacre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladio_in_Italy#1980_Bologna_massacre). ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/65 "2011-03-11T23:36:59Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Wrong. Possession of unlawful firearms is an absolute offence here, and the _mens rea_ is unimportant. In a civil court, yes. In the part you quoted, I’m talking about a hypothetical prosecution under _military_ law (which I think I said don’t think a discharged officer would be subject to). The point I intended to make is that there’s an obvious difficulty in the army prosecuting a soldier for being in possession of an issued firearm. He’s either a civilian who has no excuse for having it, or else he’s a soldier who does. He can’t very well be both. And even if he could be, the civil penalty (in this case) is actually more severe than the military one. In short, Watson would be in enough shit just for having the gun – any army involvement isn’t going to make it any worse. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/66 "2011-03-12T00:22:26Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Therefore the only logical response is to hide the guns, report the site to the nearest IRA sympathizer Before moving onto Armalites and then just blowing up kids with semtex, the IRA actually did use Thompson sub machine guns for a while. For that reason, if I found the batch I’d likely leg it pretty quickly 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004/67 "2011-03-12T02:18:53Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#): > > So yeah, in the US, as long as you meet the United States Code’s guidelines for gun ownership in general, live in one of those 46 states, have no criminal record, have $200 spare dollars and can finagle a recommendation from your local sheriff, you can own any damn machine gun you want. Or grenade launcher. Or silencer. Or pretty much anything else. With the provision that the automatic weapon in question had a date of manufacture prior to May 1986 and had already been registered with BATFE. An unregistered weapon (such as these would be) are still criminal unless you’re permitted to have post-May 1986 dealer samples or the like, which is why some people have legitimate weapons like a Glock 18. For the record, [authentic, transferrable Tommy guns go for $30,000 or so](http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=217978313). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-crate-of-thompson-submachine-guns-in-the-woods-in-england-then-what/574004.md?page=3)