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Map of Federally Regulated Weapons

May 18, 2015

In four states (New York, California, Massachusetts, and Arizona), it is illegal to carry nunchucks.

Oddly, those same states have a total of 60,715 legally registered machine guns.

Machine guns are one of six categories of “Title II” weapon, which are regulated federally under the National Firearms Act.

Based on data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the graphic below shows the number of federally registered weapons in each state, broken down by the six NFA weapon categories (definitions can be found below the graphic).

Click on a state to see more information.

NFA Registered Weapons by State, as of 2014

NFA Weapon Definitions

Miniguns constructed prior to 1986 can be legally owned in most states

Machine guns — this includes any firearm which can fire more than 1 cartridge per trigger pull. Both continuous fully automatic fire and “burst fire” (i.e., firearms with a 3-round burst feature) are considered machine gun features. The weapon’s receiver is by itself considered to be a regulated firearm.
A non-machinegun that may be converted to fire more than one shot per trigger pull by ordinary mechanical skills is determined to be “readily convertible”, and classed as a machinegun, such as a KG-9 pistol (pre-ban ones are “grandfathered”).

Short-barreled rifles — this category includes any firearm with a buttstock and either a rifled barrel under 16″ long or an overall length under 26″. The overall length is measured with any folding or collapsing stocks in the extended position. The category also includes firearms which came from the factory with a buttstock that was later removed by a third party.

Short-barreled shotguns — this category is defined similarly to SBRs, but the barrel must be under 18″ or a minimum overall length under 26″. and the barrel must be a smoothbore.

Suppressors — this includes any portable device designed to muffle or disguise the report of a portable firearm. This category does not include non-portable devices, such as sound traps used by gunsmiths in their shops which are large and usually bolted to the floor.
- Grenade launchers can be legally purchased, though each grenade has to be individually registered
  
  Destructive Devices — there are two broad classes of destructive devices:
  1) Devices such as grenades, bombs, explosive missiles, poison gas weapons, etc.
  2) Any firearm with a bore over 0.50 inch except for shotguns or shotgun shells which have been found to be generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes. (Many firearms with bores over 0.50″ inch, such as 12-gauge shotguns, are exempted from the law because they have been determined to have a “legitimate sporting use”.)

Thoughts

A few interesting stats that jump out:

The state with most machine guns per capita is New Hampshire, with 7.4 for every 1,000 residents. New Hampshire also happens to have the lowest murder rate.
In Wyoming, which has a population of only about 600,000, there are over 100,000 “destructive devices” registered. I have not managed to figure out why, but there must be an interesting story there.
Washington D.C., which does not appear on the map, has the second highest number of NFA weapons per capita, with 62 per 1,000 residents.
Oklahoma‘s total NFA registrations are lower than the national average, but the number of silencers registered is the second highest per capita.
California is well known to have some of the strictest gun control laws in the U.S. Yet, it ranks #2 in terms of total number of registered weapons (Texas is #1). Ironically, many of these weapons are owned by Hollywood, an industry that includes some of the loudest voices supporting gun control.
Arizona, one of the states that bans nunchucks, ranks #9 overall with 16 NFA-registered weapons per 1,000 residents.
The obvious question for Arizona: What is the legality of tying two of these machine guns together, thereby creating a pair of “gunchucks?”

Who owns all these weapons registered in New York?

In theory, all Class III weapons are completely banned in New York. Even being in the same room as a machine gun is enough to get you in trouble:

The presence in any room, dwelling, structure or vehicle of any machine-gun is presumptive evidence of its unlawful possession by all persons occupying the place where such machine-gun is found.

I’m sure police departments account for much of it, but there are only 50,000 police officers in New York. Could they really have the need for 9,000 machine guns? I have an even harder time seeing why the police would own thousands of silencers or short-barrel shotguns.

The ATF does not release information about who the registered owners are, but if anyone has an idea, I would love to know.

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Max Galka

I'm an NYC-based entrepreneur (my newest project: Blueshift) and adjunct instructor at UPenn. I'm fascinated by data visualization and the ways that data is transforming our understanding of the world. I spend a lot of time with my face buried in Excel, and when I find something interesting I write about it here and also as a Guardian Cities and Huffington Post contributor.
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Tom Kehoe

Fascinating stats, but something seems to be out of synch. You state that New Hampshire has more machine guns than any other state, with 74 per 1,000. That is huge. But the map says there are a total of 15 NFA weapons combined for every 1,000 residents in New Hampshire. Can you explain the contradiction?

tk
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  Thank you for pointing that out. It is missing a decimal point. Should have caught that one.
  - Tom Kehoe
    
    Ah, that makes sense. thanks for fixing that.
    
    tk
- Ian M
  
  The large number of destructive devices could be dynamite and c4 and composition explosives used for mining operations. I know fire works dealers may also have to register a certain amount with the atf as in my state a bunler must be built to house the fireworks. Btw did you know you can legally build a hand grenade and register it with the atf? Also people who own large caliber cannons must register the actual rounds as destructive devices . For example 40 mm grenade rounds require a tax stamp for each round . Some people also own 105 mm howitzers and have to register each shell
KestrelBike

Just to make clear and perhaps state the obvious, but all the NFA weapons owned by state & federal police/gov agencies (so, all the state & local PD’s & their SWAT depts, the FBI, DC Capitol Police, Jack Bauer & CTU, etc) are also registered in basically the same databases/systems as the NFA weapons & devices that civilians are registered into when they do their Form 1’s & 4’s? And so that’s how New York and DC have such high counts, as it’s obviously not civilians but the government agencies?
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  Yes, that’s precisely the question. Who are the organizations/businesses/agencies that own these weapons in NY? Aside from state and local police.
  
  As I understand, it is only state and local agencies that need to register, and the FBI and other federal government agencies are exempt.
  
  Individuals certainly cannot own them directly, but is there any possibility a licensed dealer/manufacturer/shooting range could buy them on behalf of the business?
  - d from birmingham
    
    Yes firing ranges and private security companies can have NFA weapons in New York. Brinks can for example over rule state law and have its armored truck guards carry M-16s.
    
    California due to demands from the movie industry made Class 3 dealers exempt from its bans. This is because movie studios use weapons from several dealers as props wheter they fire live or blank ammo.
    - http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
      
      That does make sense. Thanks for the info.
      - Robert Naess
        
        Many metro PDs have “flashbangs’ which are NFA controlled and individually registered, and account for a large number of listed registrations. Further once something is registered, its registration info is never deleted from the NFRTR (registry). This means that used flash bangs, once deployed, remain listed as individual registrations. MGs often are still registered to dead registrants and often cannot be transferred ouot of the name of the dead person due to confidentiality rules for registrations. Confiscated and destroyed NFA weapons remain listed. So, it is easy to see that general totals and totals of specific types of weapons in the NFRTR can never be accurate
joel l

So talk to local legislators and ask to make nunchaku legal to carry. Problem solved. It’s a silly law.
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  Cool. I never realized it was so easy to repeal state-level weapons laws. 🙂
  - JimInHouston
    
    They seem to be easy enough to pass…dead of night, emergency measures, etc.
    
    Then they should be easy to repeal the same way.
    
    BTW, as some folks seem all balled up by these weapons, why don’t you enlighten us on the number of crimes that have been committed by legally owned automatic weapons.
    - http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
      
      Touche.
      
      Don’t have the stat you are asking about, but I would be shocked if it is anything other than zero.
      - Frank Schlegel
        
        I be-leave a 20mm (Russian?) anti tank rifle was used in an armored car robery some time around the mid 60s – 70s, a friend of mine had one and the atf questioned his wife.
  - http://freestateproject.org jeff nh
    
    Switch blades used to be illegal in NH. Someone contacted their state rep and all knife restrictions were eliminated.
    
    Doesn’t it work that way everywhere? Maybe it’s because we pay our reps $100 per year.
http://www.backwoodsengineer.com Backwoods Engineer

My friends and I are glad to help boost Alabama’s totals! However, none of these weapons should have federal registration, because the NFA ’34, just like the GCA ’68, is a list of profound infringements of the fundamental, enumerated Constitutional right to keep and bear arms of militia utility (see the Miller decision by the Supreme Court if you doubt that).
- d from birmingham
  
  Other supreme court decisions dating from the 1800s state that weapons are regulated. The NFA was a compromise to not outlaw certain weapons.
  - MichaelZWilliamson
    
    Wow. “Banning all this stuff is a compromise to not ban everything.” Nice Orwellian doublespeak.
    
    Also, you’ll find most of the decisions from the 1800s were about regulating weapons so free blacks couldn’t get them. Specifically brought up in Dred Scott.
- sonoffar
  
  Best point made of the whole article and replies. Existing law, with a history as long as that of the nation, says we may “keep and bear” whatever we choose to keep and bear. It’s our collective governments and their innumerable alphabet soup agencies who are not in compliance with the law.
  - http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
    
    The best one, or at least the cleverest one, came from Twitter. Responding to the nunchucks vs machine guns comparison, @saikanomie says, “Chuck the nuns & stick with guns!”
Ccc

Very cool article. But can you find the answer that every NFA gun owner wants to know. How many of the 500k Machineguns are civilian transferable. ATF claims to have no clue and you are the first to print a article that has any info information.
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  Someone mentioned the number was about 300k, though I don’t know where that came from. I’m curious to know as well. Will see if I can dig something up.
  - Ccc
  - OldSchoolSOT
    
    The ATF publishes these numbers every year. There are just over 286,000 transferable machine guns on the NFRTR. The rest would be post 86 samples in the hands of dealers and manufacturers. This could not include the numbers in police and military hands. Same with the numbers of DD’s or silencers.
    - OldSchoolSOT
      
      Here is an interesting link to the ATF stats, it will give you the numbers of transferable NFA items for the last decade or so.
      
      https://www.atf.gov/statistics/index.html
d from birmingham

A correction dual barreled firearms can actually fire both barrels with one trigger pull.
Its three or more rounds per trigger pull on a modern firearm that makes it a machine gun.

There are several handguns out on the market today that fire both barrels with one trigger pull and they are not NFA firearms.

Also for registering grenades only the high explosive ones need to be registered and each of course you pay a 200 dollar tax. Training and low explosive grenades do not require registration.
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  Thanks for the correction. Will update the post.
- OldSchoolSOT
  
  No, that is not correct. A simple review of the ATF FAQ page for the NFA section will clearly illustrate that any weapon that discharges more than one round with a single pull of the trigger is a machine gun. You can learn a lot on those pages. Here is a helpful link our law firm uses all the time when dealing with the ATF.
  
  https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5845
  - http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
    
    Thanks. By that definition semi-automatic weapons would be considered machine guns. Is that right?
    - OldSchoolSOT
      
      No, that is the very definition of a semi-auto. You have to pull the trigger for every round that is fired. If the gun fires more than one round for each pull of the trigger, it is a machine gun. If it fires two rounds per single squeeze of the trigger, or if it will empty the magazine it is a machine gun.
      - d from birmingham
        
        Once again there are double barreled firearms that shoot both barrels with a single trigger pull They are not NFA items.
        
        http://www.gunsandammo.com/blogs/for-the-love-of-competition/double-barrel-pistol/
        
        That shoots a round out of each barrel. Two rounds each trigger pull. It is not a machine gun as defined by the ATF
        
        Gatling guns and gatling gun replicas are not machine guns.
      - therottybear
        
        Sweet mercy. The 1911 in the gunsandammo article you refer to has two triggers. So you are only getting one bullet per action of the trigger. That makes it not a machinegun. You keep stating that there are double barrel shotguns that fire from both barrels with one trigger pull, please give us a make and model so we can research for ourselves what you’re referring to.
JoeThePimpernel

I know this is irrelevant to a demagogue like you, but I defy you to find one crime committed with any of those registered items.
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  I’m sorry to have given the impression of being a demagogue. My entire purpose in analyzing data is the exact opposite.
  
  To set the record straight, I fully agree with you. In fact, I would bet that more crimes have been carried out with nunchucks than with registered machine guns.
- watt
  
  26 U.S.C. § 5845(b)
  “…The term ‘‘machinegun’’ means any weapon
  which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be
  readily restored to shoot, automatically more
  than one shot, without manual reloading, by a
  single function of the trigger. ”
  
  A gatling gun doesn’t count as a machine gun because it requires you to turn the crank continually for it to continue to fire. Why the AF2011-a1 isn’t considered a machine gun remains a mystery, though..
- Evan Thomas
  
  I don’t think demagogue means what you think it does.
Ben

The only civilian approved NFA item in NYS is an AOW shotgun as NYS considers this a smooth bore pistol which is legal here. The problem is that there are a limited number of SOTs in the state that can do the NFA transfer, after you get that done then you can register it on your NYS pistol permit. Odds are the rest of them are Cops who got their chief to sign off on paperwork
ctd

NFA smoothbore pistols are legal in NY. Registering one with the state is no different than any other handgun, though the clerk may express surprise at a “12ga pistol”.
Kevin

Destructive Devices can be all sorts of things. Artillery, Anti-Aircraft batteries, Armored Vehicles with working main guns, all can be counted as Destructive Devices by the ATF. Basically any firearm with a bore diameter greater than .5 inches (shotguns don’t seem to count).
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  In that regard, it seems hard to really interpret much from the numbers. 100 destructive devices could be one artillery weapon with a lot of ammo or could be a fleet of armored vehicles.
charles maynes

one thing omitted is that no machine gun made prior to 1986 may be owned by a non-governmental entity or licensed FFL.
- James
  
  Charles, its “AFTER”, not “PRIOR TO”
- graham
  
  Not sure if that is true since many friends of mine legally own Full Auto owned and made prior to 86, some are LEO’s and they only have to pay a $200 tax annually and have it registered.
- MichaelZWilliamson
  
  Absolutely backward, and still incorrect. I have multiple pre-86 machine guns here.
  
  Pre May 86 SAMPLE guns go to dealers for demonstration to LE. Those may only be transferred to other dealers, but they may keep them upon retirement, then transfer to another dealer later.
  
  ALL post-May guns are dealer samples, and these Post-May samples may ONLY be possessed by dealers or mfrs.
  
  Pre-86 TRANSFERABLE machine guns may be owned by any citizen 21 or older, non-felon, who can afford one and pays the $200 tax.
graham

WHOOPS! Kinda makes those of us who are anti-gun look stupid, seems the NRA et al are correct, more guns in the hands of the citizens means less gun crimes, and less crime in general.
Wyoming Joe

Why the Wyoming stats? Because we can!
- Jon Hendry
  
  Could be cannon and ammunition used for avalanche control.
  - MichaelZWilliamson
    
    They are.
Jeff

There are roughly 185000 transferable machin guns listed in the registry. That’s why the prices have skyrocketed to about $30k for a transferable M-16 or MP-5.
To my knowledge there has been one crime committed with a registered machinegun, by a police officer, years ago.
The $200 tax is a transfer tax that is paid one time. There is no special license to own NFA weapons, although there is a process to transfer them.
The big jump in NFA ownership has come in the ranks of silencers, SBSs, and SBRs.
Mad Scientist

What would the stats look like if all non-transferrable (pre and post sample machine guns) were removed?
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  That seems to be the question people want to know. I’m curious as well and am going to see what I can find.
Karma

You want to know who has the NFA in New York? Keep your eyes on the Hollis v. Holder case out of Texas. Yes, a lot is law enforcement but much more of it is celebrities and the politically connected.
http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka

That case explains a lot. Thank you for pointing it out.

There’s a good summary here for anyone who is not familiar with it
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/11/03/jay-hollis-vs-eric-holder/
JOn

Max there are certainly more than 50,000 police officers in NY. New York city has 43000 police officers by itself. Not to mention state police, county sheriffs, and federal agencies. You should really take a look at that number again.
- http://metrocosm.com/ Max Galka
  
  Sounds high. Does that number count civilian employees?
  
  According to the 2013 FBI Uniform Crime Reports, there were 58k full time police officers employed in NY State, 35k of which were in New York City.
  
  http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/tables/table-77/table_77_full_time_law_enforcement_employess_by_state_2013.xls
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http://twitter.com/abbistani Brian Harrington (@abbistani)

Actually, nunchucks are illegal in Maryland as well. (Technically, I think it’s legal to own them, just not to carry them. 🙂
Royal Meservy

Just curious if you correlate the amount of licensed NFA items with locations of private militias? These would include “white power” groups, Balck Panthers, Nation of Islam compounds, and general, boring patriotic militias.
Juliet

The lottery is tax on people who can’t do math!
Evan Thomas

I think the answer for DC is similar to the New York machine gun answer. There are probably more law enforcement agencies in DC than anywhere in the world. You have DC police, Parks Service, Secret Service, FBI, Diplomatic Security, Postal Inspectors, Amtrak Police, Capitol Police, Homeland Security, Federal Reserve police, US Marshals….
- John Dobiman
  
  Your information is not accurate.
  
  CHAPTER 3. REGISTRATION OF NFA FIREARMS
  
  Section 3.1 The National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) The NFRTR is the central registry of all NFA firearms in the U.S. which are not in the possession or under the control of the U.S. Government.
Rob McEwen

I just read the Feb 2016 ATF report, and compared with estimated census data for 2015, and found the data equally intriguing…
WY 1 in 5 people own a Destructive Device?
DC about 1 in 18-19
and New Mexico about 1 in 26 or so?
Having grown up in NY, I follow their gun laws (and the recent SAFE act) often, and found their figures quite the head scratcher…
Bizarre
- Rob McEwen
  
  To expand on this..
  Indiana passed a law making short barrelled shotguns legal in the state, which became effective in July of 2015.
  According to the most recent Feb 2016 ATF report, we’re ranked 4th in SBS.
  Even per capita, we’re ranked 5th… all that in just 5 months?
  What’s the wait time on ATF approval again? lol
  - http://metrocosm.com Max Galka
    
    Interesting stat. I suppose people must have been lined up just waiting for the law to pass.
    - Rob McEwen
      
      Indeed. Worth sending a letter to my local Rep. to see what comes of it. Likely higher up the food chain, but still worth a looksey.
      - Rob McEwen
        
        1 in 5 in WY now own a destructive device.
        1 in about 19 or so in DC.
        NM ranks 3rd with a hair under 1 in 24.
        
        My assumption at this point, is they’re counting registrations as a lump sum, and not tracking transactions. But we’ll see what comes of it.
      - Jon Hendry
        
        Destructive device can also be both the weapon and each round of ammunition. So if you have a cannon, and ten shells for it, that would be 11 registered destructive devices.
        
        Wyoming and similar states may have a lot of ammunition for cannons and recoilless rifles used for avalanche control.
    - Rob McEwen
      
      A look at the 2014 report shows Indiana as having 3,129 SBS (despite them being illegal in our state. Law Enforcement perhaps?).
      So 5,000 +- were registered between July of 2015 & Feb 2016 (6 months)
      - Vernon Weiss
        
        I would imagine the ownership is law enforcement which is exempt from the law. (ironically) I know that the current wait time for approval of SBR’s (short barreled rifles) and silencers is 9 to 12 months. This comes from a couple of gun dealers who sell these devices in Montana.
      - MichaelZWilliamson
        
        The revision made AOW shotguns legal. Short barrels were always legal at the state level. There were thousands of them.
        
        An AOW shotgun has one or more pistol grips in lieu of a shoulder stock.
  - James Elmore
    
    Short double barreled shotguns were made illegal in 1939 by the Supreme Court. USA vs Miller. Indiana probably acted illegally.
    - Edward Teach
      
      You are misinformed James short-barreled shotguns have never been illegal. Indiana had a ban but changed it. Here is a link to one you don’t even have to register. https://www.802traders.com/product-p/sa-zver.htm
      - MichaelZWilliamson
        
        The revision made AOW shotguns legal. Short barrels were always legal at the state level.
        
        An AOW shotgun has one or more pistol grips in lieu of a shoulder stock.
      - Edward Teach
        
        You are incorrect Aow’s were always legal in Indiana. A few years ago the law was changed to allow short barreled shotgun. Before that time you couldn’t own or possess any nfa regulated shotgun. Destructive Devices that use shot shells and AOW’s were always allowed.
      - MichaelZWilliamson
        
        I got it backward. Clarifying:
        
        A pistol grip shotgun is an AOW (there are several types of AOW), and is NFA regulated. These were always legal in IN. Short barreled shotguns with shoulder stocks were prohibited but are not anymore.
        
        This was the old law:
        
        IC 35-47-5-4.1
        Sawed-off shotgun
        Sec. 4.1. (a) A person who:
        (1) manufactures;
        (2) causes to be manufactured;
        (3) imports into Indiana;
        (4) keeps for sale;
        (5) offers or exposes for sale; or
        (6) gives, lends, or possesses;
        any sawed-off shotgun commits dealing in a sawed-off shotgun, a Class D felony.
        
        ATF definition:
        
        A pistol or revolver having a barrel with a smooth bore designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell;
        
        Top two are short barreled shotguns.
        Bottom is an AOW, but not a “sawed off shotgun.” Even though it fires shotgun shells and is made using a shotgun receiver. https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Nomad_pistolvariants.jpg
    - MichaelZWilliamson
      
      The NFA required registration and taxation. It didn’t ban anything. The NFA was 1934, and was an act of Congress.
      
      The Miller case in 1939 stated that no evidence had been presented (Because Miller and his attorney were not present) that a short barreled shotgun was “militarily useful” and therefore protected by the 2A. They are, and therefore should be.
      
      The entire case was a disaster, including one racist Justice insisting he would find against the “Indian” (Miller) regardless.
  - MichaelZWilliamson
    
    Incorrect. It made AOW shotguns legal. Short barrels were always legal at the state level.
    
    An AOW shotgun has one or more pistol grips in lieu of a shoulder stock.
LLP2112

DC has got to be Secret Service along with the dozens of needless federal law enforcement agencies such as the “Postal Police.” In NY it’s definitely not the police – I have family in NYPD and they have handguns ONLY. Long guns are restricted to SWAT and the organized crime unit. Here in Texas, it is estimated that only about 10%-15% of all machine guns in the state are actually registered….. think about that.
- MichaelZWilliamson
  
  Those are not civilian registered weapons.
Edward Teach

I own one of the machine guns in Indiana, and a silencer for it!
http://www.imali.info ahmad789

Concealed Carry Position
MichaelZWilliamson

Wyoming will have a lot of explosives for mining and agricultural use.