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I don't wish for the feeling of desperation on anybody. Even for someone who has morals, desperation can warp your sense of reality. Back when I was a truck dri

I don't wish for the feeling of desperation on anybody. Even for someone who has morals, desperation can warp your sense of reality. Back when I was a truck driver, I had a substantial offer from someone to transport a duffle bag in my utility lock box across state lines. I was desperate, and it was a lot of money. I rationalized, told myself it was just gonna be some drugs, and I never get pulled over anyway. No big deal, I told myself. Until I grabbed the bag, and realized it wasn't drugs. Took a peek once I was out of sight, and it was definitely submachine guns. I started panicking and about 10 miles down the road came up with my plan. I pulled over, punctured a cooling hose, ran my engine til I overheated, and then called my contact and told him I had overheated and steamed out all my coolant and wasn't going to make it. That interaction was probably the most terrifying experience of my life. Never again.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Depends on the drugs. A duffel bag of weed isn't going to hurt anyone. A duffel bag of meth or oxy will most likely kill many more people than a bag of machine guns. Unless your country was in a civil war at the time, I imagine those weapons never saw use. Hard drugs, on the other hand, get consumed and regularly kill people and destroy lives.
- saosebastiao 10y ago
  Don't be naive. I heard guns like these from my bedroom window growing up, and that was in Stockton CA. And the Central Valley, along with AZ, NM, and TX have a huge problem with transporting guns to Mexico where they are in a civil war.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Those guns were probably going to the drug cartels in Mexico.
taway_1212 10y ago
> Took a peek once I was out of sight, and it was definitely submachine guns Can't you order that stuff over the mail in the US?
- saosebastiao 10y ago
  You can buy functional relics that are well over 30 years old if they were registered before they were banned, and you're gonna need to be federally licensed to possess them, and you're gonna be paying in the 5 digit range for the privilege. Needless to say, these weren't those.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  For a firearm purchased by mail from another state they have to be shipped to a federally licensed dealer and the transaction has all the same requirements as if you were just buying from the dealer in person. There's lots more details than that, but it isn't a free for all.
- Merad 10y ago
  No. An example of a submachine gun is the ubiquitous H&K MP5 [0]. It cannot be easily purchased (legally) because it is a fully automatic weapon, meaning that it has a setting where pulling the trigger once can fire > 1 bullets, and it's less than 26 inches in length, classifying it as a short barreled rifle (SBR). A MP5 can be legally owned, with a few caveats: * It must have been manufactured and registered with the ATF as a machine gun prior to 1986. Guns meeting this criteria are fairly rare and very expensive. I don't know the price for a registered MP5, but I would guess > $20000. * You must apply for and receive a special approval to purchase a machine gun. * You must apply for and receive a special approval to purchase a SBR. However, a variety of companies make semi-auto (one trigger pull = one bullet) MP5 clones that can be purchased more easily. Clones are sometimes built with an extended barrel so they are not considered a SBR and can be treated like any normal rifle. A common strategy is to hide the extra barrel beneath a fake non-functional suppressor [1]. Alternatively some are made as SBRs for people who are willing to get the SBR approval. [0]: http://discovermilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/mp5.jpg http://discovermilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/mp5.j... [1]: http://mfiap.com/images/F30028878.jpg http://mfiap.com/images/F30028878.jpg
  - etjossem 10y ago
    This kind of information is very useful to know - even if you firmly believe regulation of automatic firearms is a good idea. I'm not a gun enthusiast, but this summary helps shed some light on a debate many folks are badly informed on. Thanks.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
So what happened to the submachine guns?
copperx 10y ago
That plan could have backfired horribly. The police would have stopped to help you. Or your contact could have refused to pick up the phone, or could have just said "you made a deal. Now deliver the bag, no matter what it takes."

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

Depends on the drugs. A duffel bag of weed isn't going to hurt anyone. A duffel bag of meth or oxy will most likely kill many more people than a bag of machine guns. Unless your country was in a civil war at the time, I imagine those weapons never saw use. Hard drugs, on the other hand, get consumed and regularly kill people and destroy lives.

saosebastiao 10y ago
Don't be naive. I heard guns like these from my bedroom window growing up, and that was in Stockton CA. And the Central Valley, along with AZ, NM, and TX have a huge problem with transporting guns to Mexico where they are in a civil war.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Those guns were probably going to the drug cartels in Mexico.

taway_1212 10y ago

> Took a peek once I was out of sight, and it was definitely submachine guns Can't you order that stuff over the mail in the US?

saosebastiao 10y ago
You can buy functional relics that are well over 30 years old if they were registered before they were banned, and you're gonna need to be federally licensed to possess them, and you're gonna be paying in the 5 digit range for the privilege. Needless to say, these weren't those.
maxerickson 10y ago
For a firearm purchased by mail from another state they have to be shipped to a federally licensed dealer and the transaction has all the same requirements as if you were just buying from the dealer in person. There's lots more details than that, but it isn't a free for all.
Merad 10y ago
No. An example of a submachine gun is the ubiquitous H&K MP5 [0]. It cannot be easily purchased (legally) because it is a fully automatic weapon, meaning that it has a setting where pulling the trigger once can fire > 1 bullets, and it's less than 26 inches in length, classifying it as a short barreled rifle (SBR). A MP5 can be legally owned, with a few caveats: * It must have been manufactured and registered with the ATF as a machine gun prior to 1986. Guns meeting this criteria are fairly rare and very expensive. I don't know the price for a registered MP5, but I would guess > $20000. * You must apply for and receive a special approval to purchase a machine gun. * You must apply for and receive a special approval to purchase a SBR. However, a variety of companies make semi-auto (one trigger pull = one bullet) MP5 clones that can be purchased more easily. Clones are sometimes built with an extended barrel so they are not considered a SBR and can be treated like any normal rifle. A common strategy is to hide the extra barrel beneath a fake non-functional suppressor [1]. Alternatively some are made as SBRs for people who are willing to get the SBR approval. [0]: http://discovermilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/mp5.jpg http://discovermilitary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/mp5.j... [1]: http://mfiap.com/images/F30028878.jpg http://mfiap.com/images/F30028878.jpg
- etjossem 10y ago
  This kind of information is very useful to know - even if you firmly believe regulation of automatic firearms is a good idea. I'm not a gun enthusiast, but this summary helps shed some light on a debate many folks are badly informed on. Thanks.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

So what happened to the submachine guns?

copperx 10y ago

That plan could have backfired horribly. The police would have stopped to help you. Or your contact could have refused to pick up the phone, or could have just said "you made a deal. Now deliver the bag, no matter what it takes."