Upon launching the Maxim 50, SilencerCo received several immediate legal challenges from authorities and lawyers in the states of New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California. Since we have no desire to place any consumer in a situation where they may get arrested and charged with a felony because their state defines a firearm differently than the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), we have placed orders from those states on hold and are refunding customers pending legal confirmation. We will update our customers as soon as we have multiple source verification.
So not quite 50 state legal after all. I sure hope that shot of the Maxim 50 overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge was green screened. For everyone in America it’s true… you can order these without going through an FFL. I hope they sell a lot of them. But there’s already a lot of misinformation out there about what’s legal and not legal. About 1/3rd of my club members are residents of New Jersey, and I hear stories. I will say I’m shocked more people don’t end up in prison for being ignorant of the law.
I’m not at all looking forward to next year’s legislative blitz; I’m sure it’s coming. 10-round mags with no grandfathering, .50 cal bans, 1-feature test?
I would propose there are two reasons why more people aren’t in prison for being ignorant of the law:
First, there are so many laws, even police officers, prosecutors and judges are ignorant of the law. It’s kinda hard to enforce something you don’t understand, and
Second, the laws in question don’t really matter a hill of beans when it comes to making people safer.
Come to think of it, there’s probably a third reason: it’s not all that hard to break such laws, but it sure as heck is hard to determine when people are breaking them!
If these laws were really necessary, and were really potent in preserving safety, then it would be *easy* (or at least *easier*) to enforce them, because you’ll just arrest the people causing the mayhem that these laws supposedly prevent. That there is no such mayhem, and there never was any such mayhem, is why it’s easy to believe that these laws are merely steps to make people comfortable with banning things related to guns.
(Of course, the statements of people passing such laws also contributes to such belief…)
I think that’s exactly it. Most of them are only enforced secondarily to another crime.
There are also a BUNCH of REALLY onerous gun laws that the powers that be want as a chilling effect, and stuff to pile on to a mountain of charges when a career gang-banger showed up yet again on weapons charges.
But if they started enforcing the law to the letter, they KNOW they would lose the law in a heartbeat.
A few years back a kid picked up some spent blanks at a Memorial Day gun salute and brought them to school.
He was suspended (and later the suspension was shortened), but in fact that kid could have gone to a juvenile facility for possessing a shell casing in Massachusetts without an FID….and probably that VFD post that conducted the ceremony probably could have faced charges for not policing their brass.
But if that kid went up the river for such a stupid law, as well as any tourist with some shells rattling in the bed of their truck, or somebody returning from the gun range with either cases as souvenirs or caught in clothing or the tread of their boots, that law would be dead almost immediately.
Same with if ATF agents showed up at gun clubs and started inspecting AK and SKS pattern guns for 922 compliance.
These laws are ONLY tolerated because they are NOT used except against people who have already vilified themselves with antisocial behavior.
If they “gun free schools” act was enforced, probably at least a 1/3 of gun owners would be in prison for driving past a school with a gun in their car.
Exactly right.
Sometimes I’ve toyed with the idea of posting warning signs on the street near a
school, as a publicity stunt.
People in general have no idea how strict our laws are, nor how often they unknowingly break those laws.
I’d have to look it up, but IIRC ANY suppressor, most NFA items etc. are illegal in Delaware at the state level. I think SBR’s are allowed, but not sure.
Laws can be thrown out for being “unconstitutionally vague.” Why can’t we throw them out for being “unconstitutionally stupid?” That would be a landmark Supreme court ruling.