Gun Control Laws
1791
The Second Amendment is ratified.
1934
The National Firearms Act imposes a tax on the sale and transfer of machine guns and short-barrel firearms, including sawed-off shotguns. Passed just after Prohibition's repeal, it follows widespread outrage over gangsters like John Dillinger and Al Capone.
1938
The Federal Firearms Act requires federal licensing of gun dealers.
1968
The Gun Control Act, following the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., expands licensing and record-keeping requirements. It prohibits felons and the mentally ill from buying guns and bans the sale of mail-order firearms, including rifles and shotguns.
1972
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is created to oversee the regulation of gun sales.
1986
The Firearms Owners Protection Act eases some gun sale restrictions and bars the government from creating a database of gun dealer records. The law, which also authorizes sales of guns between private owners, reflects the growing influence of the National Rifle Association and a strongly pro-gun Reagan administration.
1993
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, named for the press secretary disabled by the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, requires gun dealers—although not private sellers—to run background checks on purchasers and authorizes the creation of a national database.
1994
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, passed by a Democratic Congress, bans the sale of new assault weapons for 10 years.
2003
The Tiahrt Amendment prohibits the disclosure of trace data about guns used in crimes. Following a wave of lawsuits against gun dealers, Congress also protects gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits if their guns are used in crimes.
2004
The assault weapons ban expires under a Republican-controlled Congress.
2007
After the massacre at Virginia Tech, Congress closes a loophole in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by requiring states to automate lists of people prohibited from buying firearms, including felons and the mentally ill, and put them in the federal database.
Reader Comments
bs gun control
Gun laws only work on law abiding citizens not criminals! Why would a criminals who ignores the laws against murder, rape, or robbery obey a law that prohibits them from having a gun.Since 1976, it's been illegal in Washington, D.C. to own any handguns or to keep any type of gun in your home fully assembled. Nevertheless, Washington, D.C., has among the highest murder rates in the nation. gun control does the opposite of what its supposed to.
Unenforceable laws
Firearms proliferation due to Obama...
At a recent Gun show, three truckloads of ammunition and large amounts of assault weapons were being frantically bought and sold.
Many people are scared of what the future could be in this country. Citizens are arming themselves for possible new restrictions or the fear of possible social clashes.
We have plenty of gun laws on the books. We do not need more un-enforceable laws that restrict only those that obey the law.
Lock and load, AMERICA
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