Remember a little while back in this blog, when I said I was about to teach my last class of the year, and because it was an advanced class it was gonna be like training with my buddies? Well, I’m in the middle of that now and so, far, it’s been proven correct.
At midweek we had the fully automatic weapons segment. I put this into the third level class years ago because smart folks recognized even then that terrorism was on the horizon, and a good person might find himself or herself square in the middle of an atrocity in a gun free zone hunting preserve for psychopathic murderers, where the only gun they might be able to pick up might be the MP5 of a fallen protector or the fully automatic weapon of one of the murderous fanatics committing the atrocity. Admittedly, by this time the students have spent way over 80 hours learning grim things from me and my staff…shooting full auto can be fun…and dammit, I owe them some fun back by now, too.
Most of the public doesn’t realize that in most of our country, fully automatic weaponry is absolutely legal once you’ve been thoroughly checked out by the Federal government. In a time when more than ever in recent memory it’s important to be a “certified, card-carrying good guy or gal,” no such card is better than one which says BATFE has investigated you for six months or so and determined you to be cool to have a machine gun, a silencer, a short-barreled rifle or “sawed-off shotgun,” etc.
We’re 80% through the class now and every single student has already passed a triple-speed (stuff like 6 pistol shots from the holster, one hand only including reaction time, in two and two-thirds seconds) police-type qualification, and double and triple speed police shotgun qualification.
At one point our students took some people in a broad age spectrum, most of whom had never touched a gun, from “this is the firing pin, this is the trigger” to sustained fire including reloads, in a very short time frame.
Watching a 10-year-old girl with a Smith & Wesson Military & Police loaded with 230 grain .45 hardball keep most of her shots in the center 10/X rings, and a seven year old girl with a 9mm Glock do the same, I for one came away happy.
Have I ever mentioned that I love my work…?
“Most of the public doesn’t realize that in most of our country, fully automatic weaponry is absolutely legal once you’ve been thoroughly checked out by the Federal government.”
The GCA’s of 1934 & 1986 determine legal ownership of automatic weapons.
Mike
You’ll be doing this when you’re old and gray.
Damn I wish I could have made this one. Work and money conspired to prevent my doing so. I really wish you’d be having another MAG120 in 2016 but it doesn’t look as though that is going to happen.
Heck, Marc, I’m already old and gray!
Fabulous just doesn’t seem to cover it! I am sure planning on going to the next one. So let’s hear it folks lots of interest and commitment so Mas schedules a 2016 class! BTW Mas when ever I see a one of your class photos I imagine my 8 & 9 year old in the photo with you getting their training too.
Bought some “fun” stocking stuffers for the family today: some brand new 33 round Glock mags!
Life , Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness. The first two are not quite the same with out the third.
If you want to have fun shooting full auto, I suggest you make the pilgrimage to Knob Creek Shooting Range in Kentucky. One weekend in April, and one weekend in October they shoot machine guns, and fire cannons.
I went in April 2011 and fired an FN-FAL made into a Squad Automatic Weapon on a bipod, and a short barreled (lots of flash) M2 .50 caliber Browning machine gun on a tripod, and the best-looking gun of the XXth century……………the Thompson submachine gun with forward pistol grip and 50-round drum magazine. This all costs some money, but it is Heaven (or Valhalla).
You know you live in a great country when you can shoot machine guns and watch cannons (Civil War era) get fired at boats and drums filled with gasoline.
You foreigners, if you come to America, try out Knob Creek. I would love to see European city-dwellers looking at video of Americans of nearly all ages firing machine guns legally!
Congratulations to the latest batch of MAG-120 graduates!
…Now, maybe you can finally schedule a MAG-160 class? 😉
I was “licensed” by the US Army for six years to shoot full auto guns, but that doesn’t count in the civilian world. Because I have only had my CCL for a short period of time, I don’t know how one goes about obtaining the BATF’s “certification” – how is it done, fellas?
It is pretty cool to see kids getting this training. That kind of responsibility and discipline will contribute to their development in other ways also IMO.
Mas, plan on having me in on the MAG-120 for Dec 2016. Pending ankle surgery kept me out of this one, and also postponed work with Tom Givens, Andrew Branca, and maybe John Farnam. However, I will be back stronger than ever. The shooting community owes you many thanks for your decades of service to the shooting sports.
Don-pa–
Your best bet is to first check your state’s laws concerning machine guns as some states do prohibit them. If you’re ok then find a class III dealer in you state. Many of them donot advertise their class III status. Ask around at the gun shops, and gunshows, eventually you will find someone. You can also check the FFL list at Gunbroker.com, again not all will advertise their status. The dealer should have the forms you will need. You will also have to have the signature of the chief law officer of where you reside.(Police Chief or Sheriff)Paperwork is done in duplicate and send in to the BATFE. Your dealer will handle this for you. Once approved the BATFE will send one copy back to the dealer and keep one on file. Once the dealer has the paperwork you can pick up your whiz-bang. When I was a dealer there was also a $200 transfer tax, but I think it has been increased since.
When I was a dealer MAC-10s could be bought by dealers for $250 ea. I think prices have risen considerably since the BATFE clamped down on the manufacture and importation of machine guns. Good Luck!
Keep on keeping on Mas.
I purchased my first handgun soon after Obama was first elected and it was my good fortune to take an LFI I course from you here in Michigan the next summer. I’ve since moved up to an XDm 40 but I’m carrying my S&W 642 CT in a custom Kydex holster (that one of my students made for me) as I type this.
I look forward to taking one of your classes again.
Best regards for a happy Holiday Season.
Professor Mike
Don,
If you have $400-$500 laying around to pay the attorney fees, a “gun trust” seems to be a favored prescription to full auto, suppressor… ownership. No Chief LEO signature required. Just Google NFA Gun Trust.
One caveat, the ATF is at this time considering changing the NFA Trust rules (ATF 41P), possibly making NFA Trusts less easily obtainable, and possibly requiring Chief LEO sign offs for future NFA Trust items.
For many, the CLEO requirement will be a defacto ban on NFA items in their jurisdiction, because many CLEOs simply refuse to sign off on any NFA transfers.
The one time Tax Stamp payment is still $200.
I am sure there are many more knowledgeable contributors on this forum on this issue, but if I had to guess, I would say the price of entry for the least expensive automatic firearm starts upward of $10,000 and goes up from there.
Mas
The people I have met at your MAG 40 and 80 training have made the training just that much better. How intoxicating it was to be surrounded by like minded people all focused on learning from you and the world class instructors you bring. I look forward to training at MAG 120 level soon! Have a happy new year, I wish for another great year of you and Gail traveling this great nation teaching us your Secret “Arabian Ninja” tricks! Thanks for all you do!
Had lots of time to reflect on this week’s 120 class while licking my Kubotan wounds during the long drive home. However much fun it sounds, multiply that by at least ten. The staff and my fellow classmates were top notch, and when Mas says it was like shooting with buddies, he’s spot on. Plus, hopefully we contributed a little toward building a future generation of shooters. When the nine year old girl making her first ever shot with a Glock 17 hits the center X of the bullseye, you know there’s hope.
One thing though… if I’m ever in a moving vehicle with Mas and the gun has to come out, I’ll drive and let Mas do the shooting!
Compliments to Mas, the staff and my fellow students for a great week!
@ENJOYING FREEDOM IN AMERICA
While many Americans do still enjoy this freedom today, many in left-wing dominated sections of the country (California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York. etc.) have seen their 2nd Amendment Rights unjustly restricted for left-wing ideological reasons.
The left spits upon the 2nd Amendment regularly. Some of the ones running for public office, like Candidate Sanders, will give lip-service to the 2nd Amendment and claim to “respect” it. These statements are almost always false and disingenuous.
As I explained in some of my previous comments, firearms are an ideological “whipping boy” for left-wing fanatics. The concept of gun control and the need to blame firearms for violence functions as a psychological protective mechanism to bolster their left-wing world-view. Without a whipping boy to blame, their world-view is in danger of collapsing. Many of these left-wing fanatics are so wedded to this world-view that they would suffer torture and execution before giving it up.
This is why I denounce the left-wing euphemisms that they give which state that they are movements that support gun control or (with even more spin) “gun safety”. This is more lies.
In truth, they are correctly titled “The Movement for the Prohibition of Firearms” and they are the ideological inheritors of the older “Movement for the Prohibition of Alcohol” of a century ago . Some of them are even beginning to drop the smoke-screen and admit that this is the truth. See this link:
https://newrepublic.com/article/125498/its-time-ban-guns-yes-them
So, while many Americans can still enjoy this freedom today, never doubt for even a micro-second that there are rabid fanatics on the left that would gladly trample that freedom under the iron boot of ideological oppression.
I know how old you are Mas, and you’re nowheres near quitting.
TN_MAN,
I read the article, “It’s Time to Ban Guns. Yes, All of Them,” by Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Talk about living in a dream world. She wants to even disarm the Police! This woman seems to have led a sheltered life. She looks at guns the way some of us look at snakes, with fear and loathing. She doesn’t realize that a country with unarmed police would be run by brutal gangs.
I think we should ban liberalism. It’s given us divorce, abortion, a drug epidemic, a crime epidemic, weakened families, a decline in educational standards and really bad art and music. I have a lot of respect for Margaret Thatcher, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, KT McFarland and Ann Coulter, but this woman, Phoebe Maltz Bovy, should not be allowed to vote.
Hundreds of millions slaughtered by their own governments in the bloody twentieth century, crime which cannot be prevented before it’s committed, radical Muslims preaching and spreading armed, cut-off-the-infidel’s heads jihad, and this woman wants to ban guns!
Randy and William – thanks so much for responding so quickly and in such detail. Returning to the sheer excitement that comes with sending those long strings downrange would be a dream come true. To those readers who enjoy shooting, but have never experienced it, you should find a way to see what I’m talking about. It is over 40 years since I felt that particular mixture of awe and power and would love to do it again. Time will tell. I’ll be sure to “keep ya’all in the loop!”
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