Except for state laws-- usually california, no limits on ammo purchases. Purchase 5 million rounds if thats what you need for um, deer hunting. Nothing over 50 cal, but 50 cal is fine. Mount it on your pickup truck or your own armored vehicle I guess. 50 cal ammo is 3 bucks per round for the cheap stuff so that adds up. Not a gun for the poors to own. You can own a tank if you want to, but theres a lot of laws around making it street legal, depending on the tank's weight.
Operating a tank is a paperwork nightmare, which is another reason why Americans are so cynical about their government.
(/s)
You can own a tank if you want to, but theres a lot of laws around making it street legal, depending on the tank's weight.
What if I just want a little joy ride through San Diego as a treat?
What do you mean I can't have a Warhammer 40k type of missile launching bolter?
You can have it so long as it is semiautomatic. There's just a lot of paperwork involved because the bolter itself and each individual round are probably considered destructive devices.
SOVL
20 years ago in Idaho my buddy who is a Marine took me into Walmart. The only restrictions on our purchases were the bounds of our debit cards.
I enjoy posts like this where Americans get hooked into the legalities of what guns can be bought, the ammo, whether it's permitted in some states, etc.
It's a movie about a robot from the future which time travelled. And people are questioning the legalities of buying guns in the 80's.
And also the answer is easy, yes. Then, now, tomorrow, yes you can just buy any gun anywhere you want at any time. To be clear, I am American. Living in Amerikkka. Before posting this I went into my local Starbucks and bought a mortar launcher and a semi automatic pistol. After that I went over to fed ex and printed 3 luigi pistols in 4 different colors.
Could you just imagine the suppression people face in other countries? Calling them colours or whatever it is in the metic system.
Can confirm. I got the two mortar round special to go with my vinte mocha frappachino. I showed them my 'merica card and got an extra tube launcher thrown in because I drink a lot of fancy overpriced coffee as is 'merican tradition. Two more punches on my card and I get a drum magazine for the rifle of my choice with 2 pallets of ammo. Also back in the 80's you could just buy your guns out of vending machines at K-Mart. Terminator is using rookie numbers and clearly from the future.
It was in the 80's. The only way he wouldn't have gotten a gun was if he was a stereotype of a gay man and came into the gun store kissing his boyfriend.
Well, he did come from the future after all. It wouldn't be hard for Skynet to dig through criminal records, court cases, sales records, bank info, etc... and pinpoint where to get an optimal shopping experience for this mission.
Part of the plot was that Skynet didn't have great records. The terminator had to use a phone book and go down the line killing Sarah Conners because it didn't know which one was the target
I find it weird that there probably was an early skynet that did know all these addresses off a bat but had no time machine, and then a later skynet that lost that info but did have that time machine.
I guess the rebels really did make a marked difference to the data banks of skynet to cripple it, even as its capabilities were extended
No. That wouldn't happen in a gun store.
You'd have to go to a gun show.
Edit: a gun show is like comic con, only for guns.
I mean Terminator 1 takes place in 1984. As far a quick search goes, there were no background checks, no assault weapon ban, no waiting period, ..etc
Background checks started in '68, they didn't become instant until like '93 because internet but they still existed, I think it was by phone back then. The rest of that isn't around now either except for some states, the national AWB expired 21yr ago, and there's never been national waiting periods.
The NFA existed.
Private sales are private sales. Has nothing to do with gun shows, that shit is just ignorance from anti-2a groups/people. The pro2a people have been asking for access to the NICS for years. Even if we had to pay $10 for a BG check to come back as clear or not, but they don't want that because it takes away from their wedge issue.
a gun show is like comic con, only for guns.
So people dress up as sexy guns?
They cosplay as tough guys.
What would not be like that? Nidal Hasan did it pretty much like that prior to his 2009 Fort Hood shooting?
Except Comic Con is rare, and they don't have to take down their "gun show this weekend!" signs here in Iowa because that's every weekend, or so it seems.
Agreed though. I was actually worried about what maga might do if Harris won, so I made my first purchases before the election. I had to provide ID, enter some personal identifiers into a website and be approved by a federal agency. It took an extra 30 minutes or so.
I live next to fairgrounds. Every Saturday: Gun and Knife Show.
But I also remember working at a marina and where I saw far more transactions take place between two parked vehicles than anything that requires paperwork.
1984? In some states, yeah, It would have been that easy.
In 1984, a full auto would still have been on an NFA registry. Open, rather than closed like today, but still not a simple one step sale.
This is of course, fact checking the finer points of gun law in a movie about a time traveling robot.
If you find a one in a million firearms store who buys their own stock and resells out back illegally, it still is.
Also some pawn shops, technically anything made before a certain date is an Antique and skips a lot of regulations.
Damn not very 1984 of them
He also asks for an "Uzi 9mm" a full-auto machine gun, which you could NOT just buy over the counter at a retail gun store.
There was a ban on selling machine guns to civilians that was passed in 1986.
The original Terminator film came out in 1984. So now? Yes, but then?
Probably accurate.
Not entirely. Machineguns have, since 1934, been required to be registered with the federal government, and for a normal person individually require a federal approval to buy (a "stamp").
What happened in 1986 was the machinegun registry changed from open to closed. This means, that new machineguns are no longer added to the registry, meaning that for the average person (ie not somebody involved in the industry with their own special licensing) the number of machineguns for sale is limited and supply over time will always be going slowly down.
The process for buying a machinegun is as simple as buying any other NFA item like a silencer/suppressor or an SBR. The cost has skyrocketed thanks to limited supply.
There are still transferrable Mac 10s out there though
The above point was you don't just buy them over the counter in a one step, walk in transaction. The precise model doesn't matter.
A reminder this was during a time period we all collectively agreed to ignore Arnold's accent for narrative purposes.
My theory, at least for purposes of The Terminator, is that after Judgment Day, there were some human holdouts in Austria who sent troops to help fight Skynet, so that's why an Austrian accent would be assigned to an infiltration unit.
I have nothing to say about Terminator 3. That was like three or four timeline modifications later. There's bound to be some reality degradation.
Meanwhile, in Germany, they have to dub him, even if he speaks German, because he sounds like a country bumpkin.
Total fiction. Everyone knows you have to go to a unlicensed seller at a gun show in the majority of states for that, not a gun store
unlicensed seller at a gun show
Says people who have never been to a gun show. Find me ONE table that's unlicensed.
There's one gun show near me that allows private sellers to register for a table. The only time I've ever seen it is people in a historic items collectors club that show up, and I've only ever seen one with a gun to sell that was in working order and manufactured post-1899. He wanted $5,000 for a beat up m1917 Enfield. I don't know whether he was stupid, or looking for someone else who was.
I'm sure there are plenty.
The finer detail though is that any FFL with a table still has to run a NICS background check. While any non-FFL doesn't (and to my knowledge can't even if they wanted to), which is exactly the same as if they were selling privately in any other way.
So, it is true you can buy a gun without a background check at a gun show, but it's not like it's a special law free zone where FFLs suddenly are exempt from the rules. It's a unique situation where businesses and private sellers are selling guns right next to each other, each following different legal requirements.
Tbf, some states allow private sellers at gun shows, some don't, some shows in states that do allow it won't allow it themselves, etc. It's kinda a mixed bag leaning more towards "mostly FFLs."
My local has both, for instance.
I can find several people walking around with an AR15 strapped on their back with a sign that says "For sale, $1200". That's the actual private sales loophole.
in the majority of states
States Where You Can Buy a Gun at a Gun Show Without a Waiting Period or Background Check
In the following states, private sellers (non-licensed individuals) at gun shows can sell firearms without conducting a background check or imposing a waiting period:
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas Georgia Idaho Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Maine Mississippi Missouri Montana New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina (only for rifles & shotguns; handguns require a permit) North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
FREEDOM
It doesn't have to be a gun show, can be anywhere. I've legally purchased a handful of guns in random parking lots.
"Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range."
"Hey, just what ya see, pal."
"Hey wait a minute. Those haven't been invented yet. What are you? Some kind of time traveling killer robot with incomplete historical records. Hang on just one second pal, I gotta go to the back."
It was when I was younger. At 16, I was able to walk into a local gun shop and buy two boxes of 9mm ammo. Shop owner didn't seem to care at all, so my friend (17) went back in weeks later to buy a .22 pistol.
No ID. No anything.
Thankfully, things have changed since then.
You should have got a gun the same caliber as the ammunition.
I mean the accent isn't really relevant (though it would probably get a comment) but the large quantity of guns and ammo would raise suspicion.
American Police: "Want to buy some guns? Go right ahead."
Also American Police: "Withdrawing more than $10,000 in cash to pay for it? Get'm boys!"
That depends heavily on where you are in the country.
the large quantity of guns and ammo would raise suspicion.
iirc there a law where more than 1,000 rounds in one purchase would have a federal note that someone bought a lot of ammo, so people just started buying 999 bullets instead lmao
I don't know how many people actually care enough to try and game the system for getting flagged. I've never really heard that concern, especially considering buying 1k of ammo at a time is not as uncommon as it seems at first glance. Some sealed packaged ammo cans hold more.
FWIW I bought 10k rounds at one time once and nobody from the government ever followed up.
yeah, and I should have been clearer that I more meant the gun part. buying a lot of guns isn't that concerning, but buying a bunch at once is.
In the 80s it was. Nowadays you'd have to pass a background check.
Question about the pistol here, is the mount reliable enough to keep it zero'd and accurate? That's a huge pistol and the kickback on the slide would be nuts, lots of energy moving around there to knock something loose, or at least a little off center, I feel like.
Modern day, sure no problem. Today's micro red dots can be mounted to the moving slides themselves and survive.
In the 1980s? Maaaybe...
The laser in the movie is mounted to the frame by way of the grip, so it will shake around much less than if it were on the slide. Mounting optics to the frame is how competition guns were (and sometimes still are) set up.
The question comes down to the durability of a laser device made in the 80s. The movie's laser was a specially made prop. On one hand it was made by the precursor to Surefire which is known for quality equipment, on the other hand I doubt the movie cared about it actually holding a zero.
I mean kinda, but you gotta sit for a background check
UZI NINE MIDDIMETER
PHAZE PLASMA RIFLE IN THE 40 WATT RANGE
lol no. Maybe in the past but now there's a background check and often a mandatory waiting period before you can just walk out with a gun.
In fairness you could probably just walk out with it if you do what Arnie does in the movie...
America? Probably (dunno what guns laws are like Bolivia or the other American countries). The US America? Definitely!
Used to be.
In California not sure about back in the 70s but not now at the very least. Ya have to find the dubiously sane redneck and buy it at a premium. Note if the ATF asks then ya say you found it in the desert cause if ya snitch you will become very aware of the fact that a surprising number of California Rednecks "went backpacking in Ireland" during the troubles and brought back what they learned if ya catch my drift.
In California it's more like they went backpacking with Aryan Brotherhood members.
In California that would be illegal to do now. I mean sure you can probably find a guy to do it, and he'll probably sell you meth or heroin too if you ask nicely, but it is already illegal in CA to do any of that.
As an American, no.
Dude clearly got the paperwork out.
No. But if you're a Californian driving to Nevada or Arizona, yes.
Nope, not for 4y, and even before that, while possible it would still have been illegal for the californian, and for the nevadan if it was a handgun.
https://thegunzone.com/how-to-legally-sell-a-firearm-in-arizona/
Not in AZ either, as while it is legal to sell privately without a background check:
- Can I sell a firearm to an out-of-state resident?
It is illegal to sell a firearm to someone who is not a resident of Arizona without going through a licensed dealer.
