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Bill to allow WWII trophy title IIs
HR 2088 is a bill which would allow WWII vets and their heirs to possess certain war trophies and DEWATs (deactivated war trophies).
What prompts the legislation is that during WWII, commanders were authorizing soldiers to own and take home war trophy guns, including machineguns. Many of the vets didn't realize that such a written authorization doesn't get them around the National Firearms Act; they weren't lawyers, were in war, and had a letter from their commander authorizing them to take the gun home, and figured that covered it. As a result, there are a considerable but unknown number of MGs out there where the owner thinks everything is legal, and it isn't.
In a September 22, 2005, letter, Representative John Boozman (R-Ark.) requested DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine to investigate and tell him "which documents ATF currently recognizes as entitling World War II veterans, and/or their lawful heirs, to legally possess War Trophy Firearms, and to legally possess DEWATs." Rep. Boozman made this request as Chairman, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
[UPDATE: I'm told that a number of these vets or their heirs have the written documentation showing that their commanders authorized them to bring the firearms home.]
5 Comments
I hope this bill has some kind of chance to move this session. It was first introduced in 2002 by Rep. Gibbons of Nevada, but has languished since then.
I don't think it will move as a stand-along bill, since it then could be amended with anything the other side wanted to attach, but perhaps it would be attached to another piece of legislation. Haven't seen what that would be, but at least the bill is active.
Here is an article I wrote (which was not published by Shotgun News) about the 2002 attempt:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/kennethbaylor/files/hiddenhistory.pdf
The fascinating thing about researching this article is a supposed study the War Department did about 1946 documenting what was brought back by GIs. I was working with Rep. Sessions' office to discover if this study actually existed, but the staffer left and I moved on to other projects. Supposedly DoD sent Rep. Sessions' office a letter replying to their query, but I have not seen it.
Hmmmmm. So it might be that anyone who comes forward and says Dad brought an MP40 home and now we want it registered as legal? Sounds patriotic and good to me. I'm not sure why the gov is in the firearms business anyway. They certainly have done nothing but botched it for the citizens and hurt themselves with these laws.
Robert, your example of someone coming forward with Dad's MP-40 and being allowed to register it with ATF would only be good for 90-days. That's how long the amnesty would be. This bill would not allow for open registration of Title II firearms; Federal law today does not allow that and this bill does not change that. (The law should allow open registration, but that's another topic.)
So you will only have a 90 day window to get a parts kit and tell the feds that a dead relative willed it to you.
Noted.
And they will document these how?
I expect everyone who is a firarms enthusiast and has a dead WWII veteran relative to buy a WWII vintage parts-kit and register it as an heir.
Not a bad thing, in my opinion.
Heh.......