MP40 War Trophy Question

[car007]

Based on a great recommendation from these boards I filled for FOIA requests for some C&R machine guns that may have a "history". I got the first one back regarding an MP40. An application was filed by an individual, not a dealer, in May of 1946 to import it with an "Application For Importation of Firearms" Code Section 2728. All the questions clearly indicate it was an individual and the only purpose listed was "war trophy". It was duly approved and entered the NFA database. The next time is a transfer was from an estate (I assume the same person's) in 1980. So does anyone know this work as I thought all imports on machine guns were stopped by 1945? Thank you.

[BRMCII]

Briefly, here is a very short, very simplified history. Due to the NFA'34 regulations on MGs and other devices passed prior to WWII, the Services during the war moved to disallow any CO authorizations of MGs for "bring back" by servicemen personnel. The Army specifically would not allow CO's to issue bring back "circulars" as they were called, to GIs for MGs. I have not seen any info about the Navy, Marines or Air Force following suit, but I suspect those services also had to comply.
However, despite lack of official authorization, many thousands of MGs of all sorts were brought back to the US in all sorts of ways. The COs of returning GIs often disregarded the MG souvenirs carried back. Many MGs were mailed, etc. Ofteh the GIs would file and Import application, F6, with Treasury to import an MG. Yours is an exmaple of that done post war.

The NFA34 required registration of live MGs with the Treasury Dept. which was free for initial registrations. The War Department initiated an option to disable live MGs by welding the breech and the barrel to the receiver rendering the MG a "non-gun" and no longer requiring registration. This was an effective means of facilitating the legal possession of an MG when an owner did not want a live gun or had a commercial interest in selling MGs. Legally, an MG had to be registered to legally sell it, but once registered for free, the sale and legal transfer of the MG to a new registrant required a$200 transfer tax. At the time MGs were very, very inexpensive and the tax was a huge added expense. So, welding up an MG allowed unrestricted sale, but the gun was not fireable any more.

Post war many, many thiusands were imported by commercial interests as well as by individuals who could legally import a live MG up until the end of the '68 Amnesty, legislated for registering unregistered MGs. Many of these were welded up and sold as Deactivated War Trophy's, or DEWATs. In the middle 1950s I acquired three DEWAT MGs: MP28 and MP34 from Cadmus Industries in LA, CA and a 1909 Hotchkkiss LMG from Numrich Arms in NY, all in the $15-$20 range. Expensive for a kid!

Once the '68 Amnesty passed, the rules changed. From the end of the Ammesty until May, 19, '86, MGs could be legally manufactured and registered for private possession. After May 19, no more could be legally manufactured for private registration.

Private possession of MGs is a fascinating topic going back to the early days of invention and development of MGs and is a quite complex history.

Others will have further observations. FWIW

[car007]

Thank you for the reply. This specific MP40 at least in the FOIA documents provided so far does not show it being a DEWAT or being reactivated, or registered during the '68 Amnesty. I am assuming this soldier brought it back and then filled the import documents afterwards? There is no capture papers associated just the form referenced in my first post. It transferred out of his estate and to a few subsequent owners since so I assume it was entered in as is in 1946?

[BRMCII]

The approved import document is the initial, legal registration document of the MP40. No further processing by Treasury was necessary.
No MGs brought back by GIs have been recorded as being initially registered on the basis of "capture" papers. This is from research done by a longtime ATF/NFA employee who held several positions at NFA Branch and was also an MG collector. This is because the required "circular" for authorization to keep the MG as a souvenir signed by the GI's CO was not permitted.
There has been a persistent belief for many years that after the '68 Amnesty, a person with an unregistered MG with an authorized, meaning CO signed, capture document could present the document to prove legal possession of the MG and ATF would be bound to register the MG. There has not been a verified, documented instance of any post '68 registrations done by using "capture papers" as proof of legal possession.
Many GI bring backs were legally imported by the GIs.

FWIW

[car007]

So I am assuming you could file paperwork and import (not as a dealer) a war trophy up till the '68 legislation or at least in the 1940s you could?

[TSMGguy]

 

Many GI bring backs were legally imported by the GIs.

 

Guns could be and were brought home from the ETO without any documentation, such as my own bnz 41 MP-40. An officer stashed the gun in his personal baggage, which was not subject to inspection like the effects of enlisted soldiers were. Guns like this were either registered during the '68 amnesty (as mine was) or ended up as demilled parts kits. Or, they're still being hidden to this day.