- (CNSNews.com) - Current federal law threatens veterans
with possible prison terms and hefty fines if they keep the machine guns
they used during their war service prior to 1968. But two congressmen are
trying to change the law and a leading veterans' group says it's about
time.
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- U.S. Reps. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.)
have introduced legislation that would allow veterans to keep the machine
guns they brought home as souvenirs following their service in America's
military.
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- Cannon the legislation would give veterans 90 days in
which to register their firearms with the Treasury Department.
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- But there is a stipulation. In order to qualify, a member
of the Armed Forces while stationed outside the continental United States
must have acquired the firearms before October 31, 1968. The legislation
would also allow family members to register firearms inherited from veterans.
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- "When they (America's veterans) returned home they
focused on reuniting with their family, securing an education, and building
a home-not on wading through the burdensome bureaucracy associated with
registering a firearm," Gibbons said.
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- "Now the machine guns they brought back are illegal
and cannot be registered, and veterans or their family members are required
to surrender them to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for destruction,"
Cannon said. "In many cases these war relic firearms are worth thousands
of dollars. But in all cases they are meaningful souvenirs for our nation's
veterans."
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- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had no comment
on the legislation, according to a spokesman.
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- But AMVETS, one of the nation's leading veterans' organizations,
applauded the legislation, calling it an effort to clarify the present
federal law, according to spokesman Rick Jones.
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- "Veterans should not be considered criminals for
having and holding these souvenirs," said Jones. "These type
of firearms represent a moment in their lives where there was extreme danger.
The bill deals appropriately with how veterans should be treated should
they possess these firearms.
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- "We know that veterans sometimes decorate their
halls with a firearm captured from World War Two. The machine gun should
be declared inoperable to conform with the laws of the United States. But
to declare these veterans as criminals for having these firearms, we think
is wrong," Jones added.
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