Machine guns arrived during World War I and completely transformed the battlefield. Early prototypes required four to six men to operate and were very heavy to carry but could do a lot of damage to enemy forces. Many of these new guns jammed or became overheated, so many rows were grouped together to maintain a defensive position.
By the end of the war, lighter offensive machine guns were developed that could be carried by individual soldiers through all sorts of terrain, which became especially useful during World War II and Vietnam. These mass-killing machines are not only coveted by soldiers, but also by civilians who are impressed by their sheer power. Collectors may find it difficult to legally own one of these machines, however.
Machine guns are carefully regulated by federal law. First, every machine gun must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (except antiques that no longer fire). Secondly, private individuals cannot transfer or sell guns except those possessed and registered before May 1986.
Instead, they must go through licensed dealers. Anyone transferring or manufacturing must get ATF approval. Transferring the guns costs $200 in excise tax. The guns cannot be transported across state lines unless approved by the ATF. The fines for possessing an unregistered machine gun can cost up to $250,000, with a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Even though there is no federal ban on assault rifles and machine guns currently, certain states and municipalities do not allow the possession of an automatic weapon under any circumstances. Following the results of a 1994 Department of Justice study that indicated 2 to 8% of gun crimes involved fully automatic weapons and 14 to 16% involved large magazine weapons, St. Louis, Baltimore, Miami, Anchorage, Boston and Milwaukee banned the possession of these guns. Following the ban, the use of automatic weapons in crimes declined anywhere from 17 to 72%. This prompted states like New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California to adopt the same strict gun regulations.
According to the Department of Justice, out of the 240,000 machine guns and automatic weapons registered with the ATF in 1995, 7,700 machine guns and submachine guns were traced by officials. These account for about 8% of all police enforcement traces each year.
However, DOJ officials say that pistols and handguns are used in crimes much more frequently than larger automatic rifles, which are more difficult to be concealed carry weapons. Thus the gun control debate wages on, with local legislators looking for "common sense" approaches to gun laws.