Members of the Arsenal Attorneys law firm met historians today participating in a World War Two tactical reenactment as part of a living history event. As much as possible the participants use original artifacts to teach history. This included everything from old wool army blankets, to armored vehicles and vintage firearms. The audience enjoyed observing the battle recreated by participants firing blanks from Thompson submachine guns, an MG-42, and an MG-34–identical to those facing each other in battles like the Normandy Invasion nearly 70 years ago.
Of particular concern to these historians was the preservation of these original World War Two machine guns. They are governed by the National Firearms Act, which makes it difficult to acquire, handle, and inherit such Class 3 firearms. In their discussions, Arsenal Attorneys highlighted some of the risks they face and discussed how the Arsenal Gun Trust could address their concerns.
A machine gun owned by a private individual cannot be outside his dominion and control. For one of these historians, this means during the weekend-long encampment, he could not entrust his machine gun to a colleague while he went to the lavatory. When his group travels home, he should be concerned about leaving his machine gun in a vehicle with colleagues when they make a rest stop. Once back home, his own spouse may not have access to his safe containing this firearm. Upon his death or incapacitation, his family may be unaware of the rules governing such Class 3 guns according to the National Firearms Act.
Of course such an historian may have difficulty acquiring this piece of history in the first place because he would need to obtain the signature of his local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO)–who may fail to see the historical significance of such artifacts. Fortunately, for the large audience at this living history event, these historians did manage to display and demonstrate their machine guns among the uniforms, helmets, and tents but risks clearly existed.
The Arsenal Gun Trust can help. It streamlines the acquisition process by enabling an applicant to bypass his CLEO and file directly to BATFE for approval and registration of his Class 3 machine gun. It can be used to authorize others to handle, borrow, transport, and store a machine gun. Ultimately the Arsenal Gun Trust would provided loves ones with invaluable guidance to understand how to lawfully and safely inherit his gun collection.
