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Machine guns may be owned by a private citizen so long as the buyer passes a background check, files required paperwork, pays a $200 tax and obtains a signature from the local police chief.
According to the ATF, most are owned by collectors. Machine guns in private hands locally:
Chesapeake - 60
Norfolk - 108
Portsmouth - 59
Suffolk - 16
Virginia Beach - 459
A survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police of about 20 departments revealed that deputies are now “frequently” encountering assault weapons in local robberies and during simple traffic stops.
Metal detectors and X-ray machines can’t pick up the new plastics used in some new guns. Guns must have at least 3.7 ounces of electromagnetically detectable metal to be legal in Virginia.
Loaded firearms are prohibited in public in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake if they’re equipped with a magazine that holds more than 20 rounds (seven for a shotgun), are designed to accommodate a silencer or have a folding stock.
Notorious guns
- In 1934, Chicago gangster John Dillinger escaped from jail using a "pistol" carved from a wooden block, pictured.
- A few years back, a collector paid $300,000 for a pair of Colt six-shooters that once belonged to Gen. George Custer.
- Up for auction: A 9-mm Beretta that Elvis once used to "turn off" his TV while Robert Goulet was singing. Asking price: $50,000.
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