“There is a legal case to be made that the serial number of the gun is the part of the gun being licensed and should, therefore, be transferable.”
As a vehicle has a serial number (VIN) adn that refers to that specific vehicle, might I inquire as to how welding that bit of material with the number onto an entirely different gun is different than putting the VIN of a Mercedes onto a Pinto and calling the Pinto a Mercedes?
Aside from the Second Amendment issues, does not such switching become fraud?
As between the seller and buyer, only if the buyer is induced to believe that the firearm records show the S/N to be unique to the item in possession, and not transferred from a wrecked gun. Did these buyers think they were getting pre '68 iron? (other than the S/N that is).
As between the people and the government, the government wishes the number of legal to own automatic weapons decrease, over time, to zero. Of course the government is going to throw the book at these fellows - and they will be barred from possession of guns and ammunition. That makes the government happy.
As a vehicle has a serial number (VIN) adn that refers to that specific vehicle, might I inquire as to how welding that bit of material with the number onto an entirely different gun is different than putting the VIN of a Mercedes onto a Pinto and calling the Pinto a Mercedes?
The analogy is that the government bans cars made after 1986, except for government officials. Trucks, scooters, motorcycles and SUVs are still legal. People are allowed to buy and sell a very limited number of old cars, made before 1986. There is only one car per 1000 American citizens (excluding the government cars).
Those ownable cars are worth many times (10-20x) their original value, and worth many times more than new trucks and SUVs that would cost no more to make.
Ownable Mercedes are a lot more desireable than ownable Pintos. So some clever guy reads the arcane laws on the subject, and finds that the panel with the VIN is the “car” and everything else is “parts.” He then decides to take his pinto, and upgrade it with a while Mercedes “parts kit.” Those parts kits are available cheap at government surplus and from overseas, as long as the VIN part is destroyed.
So he welds the Pinto VIN on the Vin-less Mercedes, and creates a much more valuable car, without increasing the number of “evil” cars in circulation. The enterprising chap might even buy a new parts kit and instead of a 25-year-old Mercedes (still better than a 35-year old Pinto) he has created a NEW Mercedes!
So, no one could possibly be defrauded. And there is no evidence of fraud in the case.
All you do-gooders worried about poor innocent machine-gun collectors being fooled are really worried that the unconstitutional state might be threatened.