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Comment by refurb | Hacker News Reader

Indeed. It’s often the nuances that matter. My understanding is that acquiring a silencer in Europe isn’t much harder than acquiring a firearm (obviously country dependent).

While in the US it’s much harder to get a silencer as they fall into a category similar to automatic weapons.

And the US laws are very strict for things like tanks and such since they fall under the NFA which again, lumps all these things into a similar category as automatic weapons and even if you’re a cop they’ll put you in prison for violating those laws.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/former-taneytown-police-c...

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This is one of the ways in which the USA is more like 50 little countries than a single one. At the federal level most everything besides post 1986 machine guns, including 120mm cannons and explosive shells along with a tank to move them around, can be had with some paperwork and a tax stamp, which is $200 or less.

There are businesses in Nevada[1] that will let you drive tanks and fire off howitzers[1] that are privately owned. However many states, and in some states counties and cities, have additional restrictions on what they permit. For example, a muzzle loading revolver isn't even considered to be a firearm federally, but in NY State if you happen to have powder and lead handy congratulations you're now a felon even in your own home unless you have a handgun permit.

[1] https://www.battlefieldvegas.com/

Excuse me, "muzzle-loading revolver"?

Would that not entirely defeat the point of a revolver?

They probably mean an old revolver such as the 1851 Navy revolver. See the loading video here https://civilwarhorror.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-load-and-...

The barrel of the revolver is effectively 6 terribly short smooth bore muskets. Be sure to load them before the shooting starts. Then you can fire six shots in rapid succession, before changing to your other revolver. You did remember to buy two?

You load all six chambers, or five if it’s an antique without a firing pin safety. Typically this is accomplished by pouring the powder charge into the front of the cylinder and then placing a lead ball on top of it and ramming it into place, although one can also remove the cylinder altogether with some models and load it externally.

The end result is you can get 5-6 shots off quickly, but reloading will take rather a lot longer than with a cartridge firearm. This is one reason people carried two revolvers in the old West. Needless to say they’re of little interest to criminals, but fairly popular amongst sportsmen and re-enactors and such.

Not always. One of the biggest advantages of a revolver is that if you have a misfire you still have your next chamber waiting for you. That doesn't go away.

> My understanding is that acquiring a silencer in Europe isn’t much harder than acquiring a firearm (obviously country dependent).

True. You don't need any special permits for suppressors at all here in Finland as long as you got a valid permit for the gun it will be installed on. So basically the seller just checks that you actually legally own the gun you say you are going to install it on (nobody actually checks what you install it on)

Being a licensed hunter near urban areas is enough to have the right to get silencers. E.g. boar hunters in Berlin.

Suppressors are not hard to get in the US. They're just subject to an extra $200 tax stamp.

You have to invite a notoriously capricious and hair trigger federal agency into your life, sure less so than an automatic weapon but you still need to put yourself on their radar to some extent. After you've done that the first time $200 a pop isn't that big a deal but a lot of people are unwilling to take the initial plunge of putting their name on that list.

Harder than Europe though. Basically the same amount of effort as getting a machine gun. Full fingerprints, $200 tax, submit to ATF, wait months, then take possession.

And each state can have additional laws that differ from federal laws. CA bans ownership entirely I believe.

$200 tax is quite crazy though. You can get a cheap suppressor for that (or less). So the "tax" is literally doubling the actual price of a suppressor in the worst case.

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