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Class III license
machinemechanic
Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
Does anybody know what all is involved in applying for a class III license. I would like to conceal carry my firearm out of state and also own an automatic firearm.
Comments
If you do not have a business selling machine guns to the police or government agencies, you can not get a Class III license. Having a business/gun shop is one of the requirements for getting an FFL that you would need, plus you must pay at least $500 a year for the Class III dealer license.
If you have a Class III license, you can freely transfer "transferable" machine guns, and "pre-86 dealer samples".
A transferable gun is a machine gun made and registered before May 19, 1986. A pre-86 dealer sample was a machine gun imported after 1968 but before 1986. Because these are more desirable, they will cost many thousands of dollars each.
A "Post-86 Dealer Sample" is any machine gun made or imported after May 19, 1986. In order to legally get one of these, you have to be a Class III dealer and have a police "request for demonstration" letter. You then must give the police department a demonstration of the gun, and you may hold on to the gun until the police decide to buy it, or until you surrender your license. After that, you must give it to the government.
If however you get a manufacturer's license, you could buy a semi-auto AK, and legally convert it to fire full auto. However you would need to pay at least $500 a year for your license, and if you gave up your business or ever stopped paying the tax, you must give the gun to a government orginization, as you are no longer qualified to own it.
Your best bet is just to find a transferable gun, pay the few thousand dollars for it, as well as a $200 transfer tax. The waiting period will be around six months, and you will have to register your fingerprints and get 2 passport photos taken.
This 1986 cut off date is something you can thank the NRA for. It happened as part of the Firearms Owner's Protection Act of 1986. This ban has put the MP5K out of my reach as it costs well over $12,000 for a transferable gun. As of right now, you could get a MAC-10 for $3,500 or an Uzi for about $4,500. Once you own a transferable gun you don't need to pay any more taxes on it, and these are the only guns private citizens can own. You need a business to get a "dealer sample".
Like I said before, if these guns are out of your price range, take it up with the NRA who helped pass the FOPA as well as the original NFA.
If I were you, I would just save up $3,600 and buy a MAC-10. Once you have a transferable gun in your possession, you don't have to pay any more taxes on it and there is no more paper to fill out (unless you want to take it to a different state, you will have to get ATF approval. Some states like Kalifornistan will never let your gun in their borders).