My last post examined the new gun control legislation that was recently introduced into Congress, as well as the Executive Orders that Obama passed regarding gun control. This week, I’m going to give a brief history of gun control in the United States and the impact this legislation has had on our country. The language of the Second Amendment is as follows: “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The language seems pretty clear-cut, but federal gun control is one of the most controversial topics in the political sphere today. Hopefully, by examining the history of federal gun control we can come to a better understanding of what this conflict is all about.
Most federal gun control laws follow a pattern in history. The government passes a law in response to a tragic shooting event, but then another one happens. The government cannot seem to find the correct formula for stopping gun violence, but let’s take a look at the ones they tried. The first gun control legislation that Congress passed was the National Firearms Act of 1934, which taxed firearms under 18 inches as well as machine guns. The law also required gun registration. This first federal gun-control act was passed in response to the use of Tommy Guns during mob warfare in that time period. This law set a precedent of federal gun control for many years to come. After President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and Martin Luther King’s in 1968, the government felt compelled to pass another gun control act. This act was the Gun Control Act of 1968, which prohibited the sale of guns convicted felons, drug users, and the mentally ill. It also required firearm sellers to obtain a license and made the legal age for owning a handgun 21. It was around this time that the NRA started to become powerful, and things started to change a little in Washington.
In 1986, after increased pressure from the NRA, President Reagan signed the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act, which eased penalties from the 1968 law, banned a federal registry of gun owners, and lastly, did not allow the ATF to inspect gun dealers. President Reagan was for gun owners, until someone attempted to assassinate him in 1981. That changed his mind on the subject pretty quickly. The Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act was passed in 1993, which created a system of background checks for licensed gun buyers. This law prevented criminals and potential violent people from purchasing handguns, but it did not restrict the private sale of a handgun from one individual to another, so the law was not all that powerful. Federal gun control went on hiatus for a long time, until the recent Newtown shooting. Government wants to make the assault weapons ban more strict and make it much harder to purchase and carry a firearm. We will have to wait and see how successful they are.
So why hasn’t any of this legislation stopped these tragic shootings? Mostly because there is a loophole in almost every one of these laws and gun owners as well as dealers find ways to get around the language of the law. I believe another big reason is that the private sale of guns from one individual to another is perfectly legal in most states. I think this fact is utterly ridiculous. As long as you’re selling to a person who doesn’t look insane or a drug/alcohol user, you can legally exchange guns for cash, no paperwork required. Hopefully, this new legislation cracks down on these private sales and stops these tragic events from happening. There has to be a way to end this violence.