Re: Dangerous Devices

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx 

In a message dated 9/15/05 8:08:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:


>   There are several levels of firearm ownership, each with an
>associated yearly tax.

>Regular firearms, no tax.
>Dealer in regular firearms (FFL): About $20
>Machine guns, silencers, and sawed off shotguns: $500 per year
>Destructive Devices (we means bombs and exposives here) $1000 per year

   You might be thinking more along the lines of yearly licensing 
for dealers - the Special Occupational Tax (SOT). Taxes are a little 
higher and more complex than you've listed here.
    Ownership is not yearly taxed.
>Transfer of a machine gun (etc) to someone else (e.g., a sale): $200

    This is true. But in reality, the transferee (buyer) pays for 
the transfer tax.

>The thing is,. the BATF, which is never known for its sanity,
>controls these.

    Although BATF(E), and several other agencies are widely despised 
for several spectacular fiascoes, they are desperately trying to 
enforce insane *laws*. They have political pressure to "do something" 
about gun crime, but the laws passed to cure the problem are usually 
ineffective and illogical. This often results in schizophrenic 
rulings about how they decide to interpret and enforce these laws. 
Make the laws coherent and consistent, and that's the kind of 
enforcement you can expect. This goes for any law, of course...
    Also true WRT any agency - when the FCC confiscates your noisy 
TC or the EPA fines you for a little PCB cap.

>    You give up your 4th Amendment right for a
>warrant-search if you become a dealer. They can bust in any old time
>and check your stuff. Your paperwork must always be in order.

    You don't give up all your rights as a dealer - there are 
limitations to what they can do, of course. And many inspectors are 
well aware that BATFE's internal paperwork and records are so screwed 
up that they are glad to use the dealer's records to get things straight.


>Incidentally, machine guns and stuff are legal (except in California
>and Wash. State) to own.

    State laws vary greatly.

> The problem is selling the things! Here in
>Colorado, the police won't sign off on a "Form 4", which allows you
>to sell one. That's against the law, but when the police agree to do
>something like this, there is nothing you can do. (Well, I could sue
>them, but who wants to sue the local police who may be needed?)
    Local police chief is just one acceptable signer. There are many 
ways around this. I agree, though that their fears are usually unfounded.
    What if you powered up a pig-sized coil in front of a your 
neighborhood cop, and asked them if they thought it was legal to do 
so in a suburban setting? They would likely err on the side of 
caution. Police are not lawyers, but the chief holds a political 
position and must act accordingly.

>I clearly remember when Federico Pena, in the Clinton Administration,
>"decreed" that the Striker-12 Shotgun should be moved from "Regular
>Firearms" to a "Destructive Device".

    Another arbitrary decision...

>I would have had to pay $1000
>yearly just to own a frapping shotgun!

    Not true. In fact, I believe BATF waived the one-time $200 
registration fee on the Form 1. Since they were stuck with enforcing 
an irrational change in policy, they really just wanted to make sure 
they got all of them registered. There was a lengthy and well-known 
amnesty period to comply with the new ruling.

>Needless to say, I (legally)
>disposed of it from my inventory. Later, I got tired of the whole
>BATF business and gave up my dealer's license -- I mostly had it to
>buy ammo at better prices, because I enjoy target shooting.

    Then in the end they won - they buried you in paperwork and got 
rid of another pesky dealer.

>And the Striker-12 wasn't that good a shotgun to begin with. If you
>fired it, it spattered you with shotgun pieces...
    I have never fired one (here in Virginia Striker-12's are 
specifically illegal). Never heard that about them, though. Those 
South Africans have some innovative crowd control solutions... I 
fired the latest versions of the AA-12 full-auto shotgun at a demo a 
few months ago - 20 rounds of 12 gauge in 4 seconds suddenly puts 
"lightning guns" in perspective. :)

>I am wondering if Tesla Coils might be moved to a Destructive Device
>by some policy wonk "because they interfere with ambulance radios" or
>some dumb thing like that. The FCC "Class B" regulations were passed
>partly because of hype about computers interfering with "life saving
>communications".

    I would think that the FCC would have the jurisdiction WRT TC. 
Although, I have heard that BATF considers railguns to be under their 
purvey. The United States Code does not cover TC's or railguns et al. 
in any way, AFAIK, so this might have been somebody's unofficial 
interpretation. Besides, there are exemptions for research devices.
    For those interested in the legalities of "Dangerous Devices", 
here's the best FAQ:

<http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/wbardwel/public/nfalist/nfa_faq.txt>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/wbardwel/public/nfalist/nfa_faq.txt


    -Phil LaBudde
(owner/manufacturer of several legally BATFE-registered "dangerous devices")

> Hmmm...  Be sure to keep this on the topic of Tesla coils.... - Terry <