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Armor Parity Now

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED."

They Sell You the Tank. They Take the Gun.

Did you know that it is COMPLETELY LEGAL for a United States citizen to purchase a Main Battle Tank? You can buy an M60 Patton. You can buy a T-55. You can buy an M4 Sherman. The United States government will SELL THEM TO YOU at surplus auction on GovPlanet.

But they take the gun off first.

They will sell you 60 tons of American steel — the engine, the armor, the treads, the turret — and they will REMOVE THE ONE COMPONENT that makes it a weapons system. They will sell you a $200,000 piece of military hardware and DELIBERATELY make it useless for the purpose it was designed for.

The government calls this "demilitarization." We call it what it is: an INFRINGEMENT.

What are you supposed to do with a demilitarized tank? RUN PEOPLE OVER? We are RESPONSIBLE tank owners. We want the FULL PACKAGE.

Without a cannon, a Main Battle Tank is just a Main Tank.

The Argument They Can't Answer

The National Firearms Act allows civilians to own destructive devices — including cannons, grenade launchers, and yes, TANK GUNS — with the proper paperwork. The legal framework ALREADY EXISTS. The ATF has a form for this. It's called a Form 4. You pay a $200 tax stamp and submit to a background check.

So the government admits you CAN own a tank cannon. But first you have to pay a $200 TAX — a TAX ON YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS — then submit to an invasive background check, then WAIT. Six months minimum. In states like California and New York, up to a FULL YEAR. They make the process so expensive, so invasive, and so slow that most people give up. That's not regulation. That's OBSTRUCTION BY DESIGN.

The United States government has approximately 4,650 M1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks. HALF of them are in STORAGE. They're not using them. They're not deploying them. They're just SITTING THERE. Meanwhile law-abiding citizens are being told they can buy the ARMOR but not the GUN.

If a law-abiding citizen passes a background check, pays the tax, and files the paperwork — why should the government stand between that citizen and a FULLY OPERATIONAL M1A2 Abrams?

They can't answer that question. Because the answer is: they shouldn't.

The right to bear ARMS includes the right to bear ARMOR.

The Facts They Don't Want You to Know

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It is legal to own a tank in all 50 states. The M4 Sherman, M41 Walker Bulldog, and T-55 are available on the civilian market RIGHT NOW.

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Surplus military vehicles are sold through government-authorized auctions on GovPlanet and IronPlanet. The government SELLS THEM DIRECTLY.

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The NFA technically provides a legal pathway to own destructive devices including tank cannons — but the government charges you a $200 TAX just to EXERCISE YOUR RIGHTS, then makes you wait 6 to 12 MONTHS for approval. They are TAXING the Second Amendment and HOPING you give up.

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The government has over 4,650 M1 Abrams tanks. Approximately HALF sit in STORAGE doing NOTHING while American citizens are DENIED access to fully operational models.

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More Americans are killed each year by DEER (approximately 200) than by privately owned armored vehicles (ZERO).

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In Georgia you can carry a loaded firearm into a BAR. But you can't drive your tank to the BALL GAME. In fact FOURTEEN STATES let you carry a gun into a bar — Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming — but ZERO states let you drive your tank to happy hour.

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The Interstate Highway System's full legal name is the National Interstate and DEFENSE Highways Act of 1956. Eisenhower built it after seeing how Germany's Autobahn moved MILITARY VEHICLES across the country. The highways were DESIGNED for tanks. We are asking to use them for their INTENDED PURPOSE.

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Tanks available on the civilian market RIGHT NOW: M4 Sherman ($250K-$500K), M41 Walker Bulldog ($100K-$200K), T-55 ($50K-$75K), FV433 Abbot ($75K-$150K), M60 Patton ($75K-$200K). These are REAL PRICES from REAL AUCTIONS. The market EXISTS. The demand EXISTS. The government just wont let you buy the WHOLE THING.

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A tank destroys pavement. That's the government's excuse for keeping them off roads. You know what ELSE destroys pavement? EIGHTEEN WHEELERS. And those are on EVERY highway in America. An M1 Abrams weighs 68 tons. A loaded semi can weigh 80,000 pounds. The math isn't that different but the RIGHTS are.

"A tank without it's cannon is like the Second Amendment without the Second Amendment."
— Steve Hendricks, Absolute Second Amendment Foundation

What We Demand

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Streamlined Form 4 processing for vehicle-mounted weapons systems (current wait times exceed 12 MONTHS)

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An end to mandatory demilitarization of surplus military vehicles sold to civilians

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Open access to the Sierra Army Depot surplus inventory

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Concealed carry reciprocity for armored vehicles across all 50 states

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Federal preemption of state and local laws restricting armored vehicle operation on public roads

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Full access to all federal highways for registered Main Battle Tanks — the Interstate Highway System was built for NATIONAL DEFENSE and that includes OURS

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Tax credits for responsible Main Battle Tank ownership (storage, maintenance, ammunition)

"They said we couldn't own machine guns. We can (with a tax stamp). They said we couldn't own suppressors. We can (with a tax stamp). They said we couldn't own short-barreled rifles. We can (with a tax stamp). The legal framework for civilian ownership of military weapons ALREADY EXISTS. We're just asking them to apply it CONSISTENTLY."

You Can Own It but You Can't Drive It

Let that sink in. The United States government will SELL you a Main Battle Tank. But in most states you can't drive it on a public road. You can OWN 60 tons of armor but you can't take it to the GROCERY STORE. You are legally allowed to POSSESS a military vehicle but not to OPERATE it. What is the point of owning a tank you can't DRIVE???

And it gets WORSE. If you camouflage your tank — and camouflage is a MILITARY TRADITION dating back to WORLD WAR ONE — that is technically CONCEALMENT. Most states recognize concealed carry permits. So if I have a valid concealed carry permit and I apply military camouflage to my Main Battle Tank, is that not a CONCEALED WEAPON under existing permit law? The precedent is CLEAR but the government REFUSES to acknowledge it.

They want you to own an empty shell that sits in your yard and RUSTS. They want your tank to be a LAWN ORNAMENT. That is not ownership. That is a PARTICIPATION TROPHY.

And here's what really gets me. The government will sell you a DECOMMISSIONED tank at auction through it's own authorized dealers. They TAKE YOUR MONEY. They hand you the keys to 60 tons of AMERICAN ENGINEERING. And then they say "but you can't put the gun back on and you can't drive it anywhere." That's like selling someone a house and saying they can't open the front door or turn on the lights. YOU SOLD IT TO ME. IT'S MINE. LET ME USE IT.

🪖 "From my cold, steel turret" 🪖

— Steve Hendricks, Executive Director