He spent money like crazy on his collection - thats a matter of public record - it was his love and joy. Basically money was no object.
And the Feds and the State allow that kind of purchase all the time - all you need is the money to pay for the rounds, a safe place to keep them and in CA a promise not to fire them - thats it.
There are multiple places in the US that you can fire a tank gun with real live tank rounds - rounds that were bought legally and fired legally.
As for the ammo being out of production - the only tanks that would be a real issue would be the Conqueror and the M103 - and if there are live rounds they would be in CA - because the last operator of the gun that fired that ammo was the USMC and they had that ammo cached in Barstow - they both fired the same ammo. The US had lots of 90mm ammo still in storage for the M47 tank. And a lot of the other vehicles just needed to install a 50 and they were fully operational.
As for operating a tank with the radio antenna sticking out of the hatch - that can be done if it has to be done. Frankly by 2001 the last thing the US Army would be turning down getting an operational tank for would be a radio that doesnt work - a jury rig is a hell of a lot better than no tank.
And if they are using CEV's as tanks - I think they would take an old M60A1 over that
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