Reply To: Vegas Massacre: 59 Good Reasons to Outlaw Automatic Weapons

A few comments
Automatic Weapons: In the course of operation, all firearms perform 5 operations, they are:
1. Feeding. The cartridge is placed in position for step 2
2. Chambering. The cartridge is pushed into the firing chamber and locked in
3. Firing. Self-explanatory
4. Extraction. The chamber is unlocked and the spent cartridge case extracted from the chamber.
5. Ejection. The spent cartridge case is thrown clear of the firearm.
These five steps in order constitute one cycle. Note that all firearms perform these functions whether they operate automatically or manually.
Automatic weapons will begin to cycle when the trigger is depressed and continue to cycle as long as the trigger is held back. Semi-automatic weapons (sometimes called self-loading weapons) will perform one cycle when the trigger is depressed, but require the trigger to be reset and depressed again for each cycle. Both automatic and semi-automatic weapons use some of the energy of the firing cycle to operate the action; other firearms are operated by manual manipulation.
As to the legality of automatic weapons, prior to 1935 fully automatic weapons could be purchased freely in the U.S. (A magazine ad for the Auto Ordnance company in 1928 depicts a cowboy using a Thompson sub-machine gun to drive off cattle rustlers) The National Firearms Act of 1935 required that purchasers or owners of certain classes of weapons, automatic weapons among them, obtain a federal license to possess. This did not prohibit ownership of these weapons, only that they be licensed. Actual prohibition is left up to the States with some permitting and others prohibiting, for instance, New York totally prohibits the possession of automatic weapons while Massachusetts and Pennsylvania permit ownership with proper Federal licensing.
In addition to automatic weapons, the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1935 also required that a Federal License be obtained to purchase and/or own short barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors (silencers) and destructive devices (hand grenades, C4, dynamite). would a nuclear device be considered a destructive device under the NFA and require a Federal license?
With regard to a popular armed uprising, google “battle of Athens Tennessee”