4 ms·

I have travelled in and through the U.S. dozens of times (including through Newark) and have never once seen a "machine gun".

hangonhn 8y ago
Did you fly in the years shortly after 9/11? There were soldiers armed with rifles, which may have automatic firing capabilities, back then. They aren't present now but I wonder if the GP's post is an impression from that period.
- Kephael 8y ago
  I've only seen police openly carrying modern sporting rifles at LaGuardia. There are police and military openly carrying long guns in public in many European countries these days so I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised to see them at an airport.
treve 8y ago
Not sure what they're called then! Semi-automatics?
- jakebasile 8y ago
  A "machine gun" in the legal sense, in the US, is any weapon or device capable of firing multiple rounds per pull of the trigger. They have been illegal to manufacture for civilian use since 1986, although devices made before that time are legal for civilian ownership at the Federal level. It requires payment of a tax to the ATF and a background check (these are called NFA items, and the Gun Owner's of America is currently petitioning the Supreme Court to challenge it). A semi-automatic weapon can only fire once per trigger pull and then uses the force of the exploding round to load the next round from a magazine. These are extremely common in the US, but you probably did not see them since many are conceal carried or used only at home or at the range. What you saw at airports were probably "machine guns" used by police and military to guard the airport. A civilian legal "machine gun" can run upwards of $10000 and is likely not something people would carry in public, even if it is likely legal to do so depending on open carry of long guns laws in that locality.
  - jhpriestley 8y ago
    technically it's a "clip" not a magazine
    - adpirz 8y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(firearms) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(firearms)
    - jakebasile 8y ago
      If you want to get specific, it's probably a magazine in most contexts. But it's really just pedantry: https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2014/3/6/clips-vs-magazines/ https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2014/3/6/clips-vs-...
  - YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
    >> What you saw at airports were probably "machine guns" used by police and military to guard the airport. A civilian legal "machine gun" can run upwards of $10000 and is likely not something people would carry in public, even if it is likely legal to do so depending on open carry of long guns laws in that locality. The OP is probably not American and so most likely took it for granted that this type of weapon would only be carried openly by security forces. As did I. Now, this type of weapon is not available to civilians in Europe so most Europeans would probably think of anything that looks more "automatic" than a shotgun or a revolver as a "machine gun" owing to the lack of familiarity. As, also, would I. In Greece, where I'm from, it's common to use the word for "automatic" (weapon) to refer to both automatic and semi-automatic weapons, even though army service is mandatory and most men above 18 can probably understand the difference. Everyone else has only seen automatic weapons in movies, where everything, from slings on up, has unlimited ammo and rate of fire anyway.
- leetcrew 8y ago
  you're not entirely wrong. people who aren't gun enthusiasts will call pretty much anything that looks capable of automatic fire a "machine gun". to someone more familiar with guns, a "machine gun" is a large weapon capable of sustained automatic fire that would be mounted to a fixed emplacement or on a vehicle. a "light machine gun" is a smaller version of this that usually requires more than one person to operate effectively. I can pretty much guarantee you did not see either of these things in a US airport. at the height of post 9/11 tensions I recall seeing security personnel with rifles and submachine guns (small automatic weapons that fire pistol ammunition) at airports, but this is fairly uncommon today.

hangonhn 8y ago

Did you fly in the years shortly after 9/11? There were soldiers armed with rifles, which may have automatic firing capabilities, back then. They aren't present now but I wonder if the GP's post is an impression from that period.

Kephael 8y ago
I've only seen police openly carrying modern sporting rifles at LaGuardia. There are police and military openly carrying long guns in public in many European countries these days so I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised to see them at an airport.

treve 8y ago

Not sure what they're called then! Semi-automatics?

jakebasile 8y ago
A "machine gun" in the legal sense, in the US, is any weapon or device capable of firing multiple rounds per pull of the trigger. They have been illegal to manufacture for civilian use since 1986, although devices made before that time are legal for civilian ownership at the Federal level. It requires payment of a tax to the ATF and a background check (these are called NFA items, and the Gun Owner's of America is currently petitioning the Supreme Court to challenge it). A semi-automatic weapon can only fire once per trigger pull and then uses the force of the exploding round to load the next round from a magazine. These are extremely common in the US, but you probably did not see them since many are conceal carried or used only at home or at the range. What you saw at airports were probably "machine guns" used by police and military to guard the airport. A civilian legal "machine gun" can run upwards of $10000 and is likely not something people would carry in public, even if it is likely legal to do so depending on open carry of long guns laws in that locality.
- jhpriestley 8y ago
  technically it's a "clip" not a magazine
  - adpirz 8y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(firearms) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(firearms)
  - jakebasile 8y ago
    If you want to get specific, it's probably a magazine in most contexts. But it's really just pedantry: https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2014/3/6/clips-vs-magazines/ https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2014/3/6/clips-vs-...
- YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
  >> What you saw at airports were probably "machine guns" used by police and military to guard the airport. A civilian legal "machine gun" can run upwards of $10000 and is likely not something people would carry in public, even if it is likely legal to do so depending on open carry of long guns laws in that locality. The OP is probably not American and so most likely took it for granted that this type of weapon would only be carried openly by security forces. As did I. Now, this type of weapon is not available to civilians in Europe so most Europeans would probably think of anything that looks more "automatic" than a shotgun or a revolver as a "machine gun" owing to the lack of familiarity. As, also, would I. In Greece, where I'm from, it's common to use the word for "automatic" (weapon) to refer to both automatic and semi-automatic weapons, even though army service is mandatory and most men above 18 can probably understand the difference. Everyone else has only seen automatic weapons in movies, where everything, from slings on up, has unlimited ammo and rate of fire anyway.
leetcrew 8y ago
you're not entirely wrong. people who aren't gun enthusiasts will call pretty much anything that looks capable of automatic fire a "machine gun". to someone more familiar with guns, a "machine gun" is a large weapon capable of sustained automatic fire that would be mounted to a fixed emplacement or on a vehicle. a "light machine gun" is a smaller version of this that usually requires more than one person to operate effectively. I can pretty much guarantee you did not see either of these things in a US airport. at the height of post 9/11 tensions I recall seeing security personnel with rifles and submachine guns (small automatic weapons that fire pistol ammunition) at airports, but this is fairly uncommon today.