Americans able to buy deadly ‘gangster weapons’ again as lobbying forces key concession from Trump officials

US citizens are free once more to buy some of the country’s most deadly firearms and gun accessories, after relentless lobbying by the gun industry and Republican politicians forced a concession from the Trump administration under the federal government shutdown.

As of this week, gun owners will be able to restart purchases of some of the most highly regulated weapons in the US, with the return to work of federal employees responsible for regulating the items now reclassified as “essential”. They include silencers, short-barreled rifles and vintage machine-guns produced before 1986.

Sales of those items had ground to a halt under the shutdown after federal examiners charged with regulating the purchases were furloughed. The examiners formed part of the NFA division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

  • anon6789@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    The temporary block of sales of these heavily controlled firearms provoked a fierce backlash from industry groups and members of Congress. While sales of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns have proceeded untouched by the government shutdown, and background checks have proceeded as normal, lobbyists argued that the impediment to sales of silencers, pre-1986 machine guns and short-barreled rifles was a violation of Americans’ second amendment rights.

    Regular firearm purchases have remained unaffected. The “problem” is that rich people’s toys were being held up. This is about the $200 permission slip you need from the gov to buy full auto or suppressors that was not being processed due to the shutdown. Suppressors are often more than the actual gun to put it on, and the cheapest full auto guns I saw on the first 2 sites that came up started at $10,000.

    On 16 October, the firearm industry trade association, the NSSF, wrote to the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, protesting that “a right delayed is a right denied”.

    Just like for Virginia Giuffre, right? What a POS…

  • Chaotic_Altruist@lemmy.zip
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    6 hours ago

    How can you just start a part of the government without the rest like funding and everything? That’s a really bad precedent if trump can just activate and deactivate agencies at will…

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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      4 hours ago

      The whole shutdown of government thing only came about via an opinion by the Attorney General in the 1980’s.

      Also, Trump’s administration doesn’t seem to really care about precedent.

  • Eheran@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Obviously those are essential to flight a fascist state. I wonder when we will see it actually getting used for that instead of mowing down children.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      3 hours ago

      Silencers and grandfathered fully automatic guns ranging from 10k to 60k are necessary to fight a fascist state? As others have stated, this is just about rich peoples toys.

        • tidderuuf@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Ya, I’m gonna do a lot of defending with a 22lr. People like you who know next to nothing about firearms are why it’s so easy for ICE to go into your neighborhoods and can start rounding up anyone they want. Real smoothbrain ideas thinking the police were the ones who were always going to defend you. As someone of a darker pigment of skin I can tell you from our history that was a bad choice.

          • whiwake@lemmy.cafe
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            1 hour ago

            Actually, a 22lr would be a great choice for picking them off from a distance. Very accurate long range, sufficient power. Death isn’t required, just skull penetration. Get a scope, problem solved.

            No more excuses.