California in 1989 became the first US state to ban assault weapons, acting in the wake of a school shooting that killed five children. Last week, a lower court had declared the measure unconstitutional.
They're operating off of the CA definition in the headline.
To the best of my knowledge the only federal definition of the phrase 'assault weapon' came from the 1994 ban which ceased in 2004. And that targeted semiautomatic guns too as it was based off of California's.
Now, they require a federal form (NFA Form 4), the $200 tax stamp and a metric ass ton of money since the public cannot purchase a full auto weapon manufactured after 1986 (Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986).
edit: Changed the tax amount, actually looked it up.
You forgot to also add that regular people cannot do all that because they also need to be a FFL
No, I didn't, because, no they don't.
If they're manufacturing automatic weapons or wish to purchase an automatic weapons manufactured after 1986 to law enforcement, THEN you need a class 3 FFL license. If they're manufacturing, then they also need to file a form 1.
Why do cops need weapons at all? They are the most likely to misuse them and you are more likely to die from a cop then you are to die by an automatic weapon, or an "assault rifle."