20 years ago in Idaho my buddy who is a Marine took me into Walmart. The only restrictions on our purchases were the bounds of our debit cards.
Except for state laws-- usually california, no limits on ammo purchases. Purchase 5 million rounds if thats what you need for um, deer hunting. Nothing over 50 cal, but 50 cal is fine. Mount it on your pickup truck or your own armored vehicle I guess. 50 cal ammo is 3 bucks per round for the cheap stuff so that adds up. Not a gun for the poors to own. You can own a tank if you want to, but theres a lot of laws around making it street legal, depending on the tank’s weight.
Operating a tank is a paperwork nightmare, which is another reason why Americans are so cynical about their government.
(/s)
What do you mean I can’t have a Warhammer 40k type of missile launching bolter?
I enjoy posts like this where Americans get hooked into the legalities of what guns can be bought, the ammo, whether it’s permitted in some states, etc.
It’s a movie about a robot from the future which time travelled. And people are questioning the legalities of buying guns in the 80’s.
And also the answer is easy, yes. Then, now, tomorrow, yes you can just buy any gun anywhere you want at any time. To be clear, I am American. Living in Amerikkka. Before posting this I went into my local Starbucks and bought a mortar launcher and a semi automatic pistol. After that I went over to fed ex and printed 3 luigi pistols in 4 different colors.
Could you just imagine the suppression people face in other countries? Calling them colours or whatever it is in the metic system.
Can confirm. I got the two mortar round special to go with my vinte mocha frappachino. I showed them my 'merica card and got an extra tube launcher thrown in because I drink a lot of fancy overpriced coffee as is 'merican tradition. Two more punches on my card and I get a drum magazine for the rifle of my choice with 2 pallets of ammo. Also back in the 80’s you could just buy your guns out of vending machines at K-Mart. Terminator is using rookie numbers and clearly from the future.
Well, he did come from the future after all. It wouldn’t be hard for Skynet to dig through criminal records, court cases, sales records, bank info, etc… and pinpoint where to get an optimal shopping experience for this mission.
Part of the plot was that Skynet didn’t have great records. The terminator had to use a phone book and go down the line killing Sarah Conners because it didn’t know which one was the target
Question about the pistol here, is the mount reliable enough to keep it zero’d and accurate? That’s a huge pistol and the kickback on the slide would be nuts, lots of energy moving around there to knock something loose, or at least a little off center, I feel like.
Modern day, sure no problem. Today’s micro red dots can be mounted to the moving slides themselves and survive.
In the 1980s? Maaaybe…
The laser in the movie is mounted to the frame by way of the grip, so it will shake around much less than if it were on the slide. Mounting optics to the frame is how competition guns were (and sometimes still are) set up.
The question comes down to the durability of a laser device made in the 80s. The movie’s laser was a specially made prop. On one hand it was made by the precursor to Surefire which is known for quality equipment, on the other hand I doubt the movie cared about it actually holding a zero.
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I mean kinda, but you gotta sit for a background check
He also asks for an “Uzi 9mm” a full-auto machine gun, which you could NOT just buy over the counter at a retail gun store.
There was a ban on selling machine guns to civilians that was passed in 1986.
The original Terminator film came out in 1984. So now? Yes, but then?
Probably accurate.
Not entirely. Machineguns have, since 1934, been required to be registered with the federal government, and for a normal person individually require a federal approval to buy (a “stamp”).
What happened in 1986 was the machinegun registry changed from open to closed. This means, that new machineguns are no longer added to the registry, meaning that for the average person (ie not somebody involved in the industry with their own special licensing) the number of machineguns for sale is limited and supply over time will always be going slowly down.
The process for buying a machinegun is as simple as buying any other NFA item like a silencer/suppressor or an SBR. The cost has skyrocketed thanks to limited supply.
There are still transferrable Mac 10s out there though
The above point was you don’t just buy them over the counter in a one step, walk in transaction. The precise model doesn’t matter.
1984? In some states, yeah, It would have been that easy.
In 1984, a full auto would still have been on an NFA registry. Open, rather than closed like today, but still not a simple one step sale.
This is of course, fact checking the finer points of gun law in a movie about a time traveling robot.
Damn not very 1984 of them
I mean the accent isn’t really relevant (though it would probably get a comment) but the large quantity of guns and ammo would raise suspicion.
American Police: “Want to buy some guns? Go right ahead.”
Also American Police: “Withdrawing more than $10,000 in cash to pay for it? Get’m boys!”
the large quantity of guns and ammo would raise suspicion.
iirc there a law where more than 1,000 rounds in one purchase would have a federal note that someone bought a lot of ammo, so people just started buying 999 bullets instead lmao
yeah, and I should have been clearer that I more meant the gun part. buying a lot of guns isn’t that concerning, but buying a bunch at once is.
That depends heavily on where you are in the country.
In the 80s it was. Nowadays you’d have to pass a background check.
“Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.”
“Hey, just what ya see, pal.”
“Hey wait a minute. Those haven’t been invented yet. What are you? Some kind of time traveling killer robot with incomplete historical records. Hang on just one second pal, I gotta go to the back.”
lol no. Maybe in the past but now there’s a background check and often a mandatory waiting period before you can just walk out with a gun.
In fairness you could probably just walk out with it if you do what Arnie does in the movie…
No. That wouldn’t happen in a gun store.
You’d have to go to a gun show.
Edit: a gun show is like comic con, only for guns.
a gun show is like comic con, only for guns.
So people dress up as sexy guns?
They cosplay as tough guys.
I mean Terminator 1 takes place in 1984. As far a quick search goes, there were no background checks, no assault weapon ban, no waiting period, …etc
The NFA existed.
Background checks started in '68, they didn’t become instant until like '93 because internet but they still existed, I think it was by phone back then. The rest of that isn’t around now either except for some states, the national AWB expired 21yr ago, and there’s never been national waiting periods.
Background checks started in '68, they didn’t become instant until like '93 because internet but they still existed
They may have existed and some states imposed them but they weren’t required federally until the Brady bill in '93 .
there’s never been national waiting periods.
There was a 5 day waiting period required nationally between when the Brady bill was first enacted in '93 and when the national instant criminal background check system came online in '98
Huh no shit TIL about that waiting period, thanks! I can’t look it up until later (at work, can fire off a message but not do research y’know) but would you happen to know how long it lasted?
Though the questionnaires in the 60s were largely ineffective and took time, unless I am mistaken they were stored by the FBI until the ATF started existing in the early 70s, but yes “NICs” wasn’t until “I” was possible as I mentioned.
How long it lasted?
Between '94 and '98, after they mandated the background checks but before they had the infrastructure to do instant background checks.
Thanks!
I think you could still buy machine guns. No phased plasma rifles though.
It’s really difficult to buy them even now.
I mean you can still buy them with a tax stamp if they’re made before '86, but you’re going to pay a lot and it’ll take some time to transfer. I think at the time that you could just walk into a gun store and buy a new Uzi.
The process is quite simple. It’s just the prices…
Private sales are private sales. Has nothing to do with gun shows, that shit is just ignorance from anti-2a groups/people. The pro2a people have been asking for access to the NICS for years. Even if we had to pay $10 for a BG check to come back as clear or not, but they don’t want that because it takes away from their wedge issue.
It’s required in Illinois to use a private seller portal for private sales through the state police site. It does some kind of check and it’s free to use.
That’s awesome, does it do the national database? That’s one of the downfalls I’ve read about. Local BGCs end up being just local, so someone can just hop the state line and then it’s pointless. Every gun owner I’ve ever talked to has wanted access to the NICS, we want to know who we’re selling to. Most of the people I talk with won’t sell unless the person buying has a CCW.
I’m not exactly sure if it does NICS specifically. The portal really just checks to see if they have a valid FOID (firearm owner ID, an Illinois special) card, but the foid card is linked to other data bases. I’m not super familiar with all the specifics. Relevant links:
even as a foreigner, it is clear to me that gun-wary Americans tend not to be anti-2a, but want background checks and gun limits. Maybe politicians fit your narrative, especially Democrats, but if you are talking about citizens you are likely straw-manning.
The point is that private sellers have been asking to access NICS (the background check system) but politicians, who are in charge of giving that access through laws, have not allowed it. It is not “strawmanning” to be talking about the people with the actual ability to provide the access.
but they don’t want that because it takes away from their wedge issue.
Who is “they” in this case?
Republicans and Democrats. They both require wedge issues to keep us divided and easily steered.
Yep. Republicans don’t give a fuck about gun rights, they just use it as a wedge issue. The same for the dems on abortion, they could have solidified roe into law a good number of times now, but they didn’t because it’s a wedge issue that got votes. Even RBG said the roe was a weak verdict to be holding up abortion rights.
Both sides, someone still insists, as one side may start street raids that send people to Gitmo.
Yes, both sides require wedge issues to perpetuate a two party system in which neither has to enact the will of the people if they can campaign on divisive issues that effectovely change nothing.
I did not say both parties were the same.
Republicans are actively marching towards oligarchy, autocracy, and evil.
Democrats have shown they are too cowardly to rock the boat and fight back. As the opposition party they have shown their true colors: ameaningless foil beholden to the same wealthy donor class as those they purport to oppose.
As the “other” side crushes leftist movement and worker power, provides no real resistance to the right wing (that they’re totally not a part of at all). They smush leftist politicians from joining the DNC and stymie and primary out leftist members already within the DNC in favor of moving to the right/moderate members. then one of their premier members says things like how “America needs a strong republican party”
Yo we’re all like: “when will you get it”?? it’s 2025 alright and ya still don’t see, even tho they keep showing ya.
Now if you’re not ready to put down the happy fantasy you grew up with, that beautiful dream that the world will be fixed without your personal effort and sacrifice, cool. It’s a scary prospect.
In the meantime, stop shouting down the people who have made the step? It’s a tough enough ask already without the endless whining and disbelief at how much the truth sucks by those like you who haven’t accepted it yet.
Liberal bickering is morally equivalent to fucking Nazis, says someone who cannot figure out why their message won’t catch on.
“My” message is catching on without my help, since its, yaknow, true.
More importantly, you misunderstand my purpose in speaking to you. Your personal understanding of my “message” is not required. Folks like you, folks who figured they learned enough about politics and history in highschool, will believe whatever theyre told if it’s someone they trust. You’ll come around when and if “my” message becomes common sense. Only then. And you will at that time claim to have always known what I’m telling you, right now.
Except Comic Con is rare, and they don’t have to take down their “gun show this weekend!” signs here in Iowa because that’s every weekend, or so it seems.
Agreed though. I was actually worried about what maga might do if Harris won, so I made my first purchases before the election. I had to provide ID, enter some personal identifiers into a website and be approved by a federal agency. It took an extra 30 minutes or so.
I live next to fairgrounds. Every Saturday: Gun and Knife Show.
But I also remember working at a marina and where I saw far more transactions take place between two parked vehicles than anything that requires paperwork.
