If you’ve spent even just a minuscule amount of time in the firearms world, you are familiar with the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Hughes Amendment portion of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986. The former regulates machine guns, short barrel rifles, short barrel shotguns, and suppressors. The latter made machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986 illegal for civilian ownership.
That cutoff date means that there is a finite number of legally-available machine guns in circulation in the United States. When you apply the laws of “supply and demand,” it means that guns before the Hughes Amendment which sold for hundreds or low-thousands of dollars now command a high premium.
How high, you ask? We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars – and not just for a complete firearm. Even full-auto sears, which is the piece that makes the host gun an actual machine gun, sell for princely sums.
Take these two registered, fully-transferable drop-in auto sears that sold on April 24, 2019, at Morphy Auctions in Pennsylvania:
Wilson Arms Drop-In Auto Sear
From the description:
Very highly sought Wilson Arms registered M16 drop-in auto sear which will convert a semi-automatic AR-15 into a fully automatic machine gun. Please note that this lots contains only a registered sear. Serial number clearly visible on this small but very valuable and essential part. Registration shows model as “SP1” with no barrel or overall length of course. CONDITION: Very good in the white with signs of use. These do not surface for sale very often. THIS IS A NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT ITEM AND REQUIRES BATF APPROVAL PRIOR TO TRANSFER. THIS ITEM IS FULLY TRANSFERABLE ON AN ATF FORM 3 OR 4.The auction estimate was $12,500 – $17,500. It sold for $24,600.
B and B Drop-In Auto Sear
From the description:
Very desirable B AND B enterprises registered M16 drop-in auto sear which will convert a semi-automatic AR-15 into a fully automatic machine gun. Please note that this lots contains only a registered sear. Manufacturer and serial number clearly visible on this small but very valuable and essential part. Registration shows model and caliber as “NA” with no barrel or overall length of course on incoming e-filed transfer form. Current Form 3 indicates, “BAUER, RICHARD L DBA B AND B Enterprises” as the manufacturer. CONDITION: Near excellent matte blue finish with little to no signs of use. Exceptionally sought after little piece. THIS IS A NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT ITEM AND REQUIRES BATF APPROVAL PRIOR TO TRANSFER. THIS ITEM IS FULLY TRANSFERABLE ON AN ATF FORM 3 OR 4.The auction estimate was $12,500 – $17,500. It sold for $27,675.
It’s hard to believe that something so small could cost so much. In fact, the two sears are so small that they were each put into a little bag and then taped to a brightly colored piece of paper so that they couldn’t be misplaced!
Here’s the photo I took of them before the auction:
Think about that for a second. Two itty bitty, teeny tiny pieces of non-precious metal that you can fit in the palm of your hand cost a total of $52,275. All because of gun control.
Crazy.