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proposing to reopen the machinegun registry risks shining a spotlight on the entire NFA, specifically the fact that the $200 tax has never been adjusted for inflation.
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Bingo. Let's remember that the NFA is a
tax. A tax is a means of generating government revenue. Think of how much could be generated not only by adjusting the Form 4 for inflation, but requiring renewal every couple of years.
We don't want to poke the bear here. Right now, we do not have the clout to make the situation
better. Remember that Gura and Clement took great pains to sidestep the very mention of machine guns in the oral arguments for
Heller. While handguns can be considered weapons "in common use," it would be fairly easy to argue that machine guns (at least in the hands of civilians) are not. We're still setting the contours for the 2nd Amendment, and we're a long way from having the political or legal support for attacking the NFA.
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Typically, online petitions are entirely worthless for a wide variety of reasons.
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If they address the right issue, with a huge groundswell of support, they might be
part of the toolbox. Alone, they do nothing.