National Firearms Act, also known as NFA, is legislation dealing with firearms for citizens. It is legislation which tells the average citizen what types of firearms they can purchase and own. The NFA does not necessarily forbid a citizen from owning a forbidden firearm, but it does make it harder for them to purchase and own one. If an average citizen wants to purchase and own a forbidden firearm, there are many legal paperwork they would have to fill out and some pricey fees they would have to pay.

 

The NFA wants to protect people the best they can. This includes trying to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of citizens. They do their best to restrict people from purchasing and owning weapons such as machine guns, ultra compact rifles, suppressors, ultra compact shotguns, and stealth oriented weapons. Many of the restricted access weapons are ones the military would use to protect the country. The restricted weapons are good for the military to have but not the average citizen.

 

If an average citizen wants to purchase and own a restricted weapon, there will be many things they have to go through in order to obtain it. There will be fees they would have to pay, usually several hundred dollars. There will be piles upon piles of paperwork the person would have to fill out to see if they qualify to purchase and own one. After the person pays the fees and does the lengthy paperwork, the person will usually have to wait months to hear back if they qualify. The person wanting one of the restricted weapons would have to have a clean criminal record and have good mental health. Sometimes the person would have to meet with the sheriff in the county they live in to request permission to purchase and own a restricted weapon.

 

Sometimes a person would be able to purchase and own a restricted weapon by going through a trust. A trust would include the person along with either a company or several other people, like a lawyer and some relatives. Trying to obtain a restricted weapon through a trust reduces some of the hassles of purchasing and owning one, but it still would have to abide by the same rules, like the persons mental health history and their criminal record. The creation of a trust is a legal undertaking and can take time and money to form.

 

When a person wants to purchase and own a restricted weapon, they have to be of sound mind and not have any mental issues. Their criminal record has to be squeaky clean too. Having good mental health and a clean criminal record will help show law enforcement the person is not intentionally trying to own a restricted weapon to do any harm. Most people wanting to purchase and own a restricted weapon does not want to use it to harm other people, but all the paperwork, fees, and waiting can not always prove no harm will be done. This is why the person would have to have a talk with their local sheriff too during the process.

 

The NFA has several categories of weapons. The categories are: 1. machine guns, 2. short barreled rifles, 3. short barreled shotguns, 4. machine guns, 5. destructive weapons, and 6. all other weapons. As people can see from the categories, these weapons can cause serious harm or death to a person. This is why there is a long process to go through to obtain one of these types of weapons.

 

The NFA does not want to totally forbid an average person from purchasing and owning one of the restricted weapons. The NFA wants to help protect our country and the people who live in our country. If you do not mind the paperwork involved, the hundreds of dollars in fees, the months of waiting, the meeting with your local sheriff, have a good criminal record, have good mental health, and are a citizen of this country, you may end up being able to purchase and own a restricted weapon. A restricted weapon should never end up in the hands of the wrong person. If you do get to purchase and own one keep it locked up and protected.