If by government they mean civilian government/law enforcement, and excluding military, then that's a very valid line of reasoning. Other than machine guns manu

If by government they mean civilian government/law enforcement, and excluding military, then that's a very valid line of reasoning. Other than machine guns manufactured after 1986, which ban is likely unconstitutional(1), on a federal level in the US there's no arms law enforcement can have that civilians not employed in LE can't also own with the proper paperwork. (1)The most recent case I know that mentioned constitutionality of the machine gun ban used the circular logic that as machine guns are not currently common weapons owned and in use by civilians, because they are banned, it's not illegal to ban them. Seeing as how machine guns manufactured before 1986 are legal to own, and it's rather easy to /illegally/ convert a rifle to full auto, the ban really does nothing of use other than make holders of pre-1986 guns wealthy. Since there's a small number of people who could afford the ammo to shoot full auto other than as a novelty, no one cares enough to challenge the ban seriously.