I may be mistaken so any knowledgeable person out there is welcome to correct me (they will at any rate
but I think the argument that it should be illegal for the general population to have MACHINEGUNS is a red herring.
If I remember correctly, it IS illegal for most americans to own fully automatic machineguns.
I believe one needs a Federal Firearms Dealer license of some sort in order to own a fully automatic weapon. Fully automatic weapons are tightly controlled by the govt.
The tec 9s, AKS's etc sold to the populace are SEMI automatic versions of their military cousins.
Regards,
MDD