Since this is coming up a lot, I want to give some insight into the regulation of fully-automatic firearms in the United States.
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Fully-automatic firearms that were registered under the National Firearms Act before 1986 were grandfathered in & are still legal.
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However, in order to obtain a legal fully-automatic firearm you must apply to the ATF, pay a $200 tax, & register with the ATF.
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Here is the form anybody who wants to own a pre-86 fully-automatic firearm has to submit to the ATF: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/form/form-4-application-tax-paid-transfer-and-registration-firearm-atf-form-53204/download …
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The ATF has a registry of every legally-owned full-auto firearm & informs local law enforcement of all who own them in their jurisdiction.
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Fingerprints and photographs are required to be submitted along with your registration application.
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This video is a great resource on how National Firearms Act (NFA) regulations work:https://youtu.be/XN1HNL8TvNo
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In practice, while there are several hundred thousand legally-registered fully-automatic firearms in the US, they're very hard to obtain.
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Beyond the registration process, which can take up to 9 months to complete, the price of fully-automatic firearms is extremely high.
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The low end of the fully-automatic firearm market is around 5 figures per gun. I've seen fully-automatic firearms in the $300,00+ range.
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A fully-automatic rifle that might have only cost $500 to produce sells for $20,000-$30,000 on the civilian market now because of the 86 ban
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There are also regulations on how you can transport legally-registered fully-automatic firearms across state lines.
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Civilians must apply for permission from the ATF to take their fully-automatic firearms across state lines. This tends to take months.
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Here is more on transporting NFA items across state lines:https://youtu.be/5ebNq8g87XE
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Of course, if you have the necessary knowledge, you can illegally modify semi-automatic firearms to be capable of automatic fire.
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The criminals in the North Hollywood Shootout used illegally-modified fully-automatic rifles as they robbed a Bank of America branch.
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Local law enforcement and the ATF have not yet announced details on the firearms used by the shooter in Las Vegas.
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As of April 2017, the ATF has 630,019 fully-automatic firearms in its NFA registry. You can download their pdf here: https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/undefined/firearms-commerce-united-states-annual-statistical-update-2017/download …
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The Small Arms Survey estimates there are more than 300 million civilian-owned firearms in the US. Makes full-autos about .2% of the total.
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Note on the ATF report: the ATF labels all fully-automatic firearms as machineguns. They don't make distinctions between classes of guns.
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Also, as I understand it, the ATF numbers on registered machineguns include those owned by licensed manufacturers.
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Licensed manufacturers are still allowed to make & possess post-86 machineguns but can't sell them to non-licensees. https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/may-private-citizen-register-firearm-not-previously-registered-national-firearms …
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End of conversation
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