I always thought that it was illegal for regular people to have fully automatic weapons. It's not. At all. For a person to get one, they're required to go through an enhanced level of screening, which is a good thing. But I said person; what if the fully automatic weapon was being acquired by a corporation or trust? No background check. None. Nada. So if you want one, it's easier to set up a gun trust to buy it on your behalf than it is to buy it yourself, especially if you're not going to pass a background check in the first place.
In 2000, there were 900 purchases of fully automatic weapons made by corporations/trusts. I'm assuming that a lot are for the movie industry, but I'm sure there are some private individuals in there. In 2014, there were 90,000...NINETY THOUSAND.
The NRA tells us that the only protection against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. What if the bad guy has a bigger gun...that's fully automatic?