4 ms·

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 manu

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.

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.