Gun Legislation Essay Research Paper Gun Legislation

Gun Legislation Essay, Research Paper

Gun Legislation: A History

Few topics in American history have been more disputed or the controversy more heated than Gun legislation. The history of Gun Legislation dates back to the Revolutionary period. In 1792 Congress passed a law that required “all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of 18-44″ to equip themselves with a musket, or a weapon adequate for war, along with a minimum amount of ammunition. The Congress passed this law on the reasoning that in case of a need for national defense the male citizens should arm themselves because the federal government may not necessarily be able to arm its citizens with the necessary weapons to arm the militias. In reaction to the new law gun ownership began to rise exponentially and therefore new problems associated with guns were raised with it. Soon after the South was defeated in the Civil War, talk of how to control the amount of guns began. The reason for the new focus on the issue stemmed from concerns the North had that another insurrection would arise in the South. In response to the gun control actions of the day involving the North s apparent plans to disarm southern citizens Civil War veterans founded the National Rational Association in 1871. Shortly after in 1876, the Supreme Court case the United States v Cruikshank (Ref. 2) the Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd amendment does not grant U.S. citizens the right to bear arms, but rather only restricts the power of the federal government. Ten years later in 1886 in the Supreme Court extended it ruling in the case of Pressner v. Illinois, “by virtue of the 14th amendment”, to include the powers of the states. (Ref. 2)

The Sullivan law of 1911 was passed in New York State. The law required the citizens of New York to purchase a permit before purchasing a firearm. The law s original intention was to stifle immigrants and foreigners from obtaining firearms because they were seen as threats. This law was the first of its kind and set the precedent for future gun legislation. The 1920s brought with it alcohol prohibition and, as an effect of the prohibition, criminal organizations increased and heavy weaponry such as machine-guns and sawed off shotguns became the criminal organizations weapon of choice. In 1934 after the prohibition had been overturned, Congress passed legislation to ban the sale and possession of machine-guns and sawed off shotguns. This marked another precedent in gun legislation; the law was the first of its kind to limit the type of firearms the average citizen could purchase and possess. In 1939 in the Supreme Court case United States v. Miller (ref. 2) the 1934 law was challenged. A man was caught carrying a sawed off shotgun across state lines. He appealed the conviction stating his constitutional 2nd amendment rights. The Supreme Court reaffirmed its former 1876 and 1886 ruling that the 2nd amendment does not grant him to carry his sawed off shotgun, but it also defined the term militia as “primarily citizens”. This official definition of the term militia was important because it defined that a militia as stated in the constitution to consist of citizens and not a federal military.

Almost thirty years later the controversy of gun control began to heat once again during the civil rights movement. In 1968 the Congress passed the Gun Control Act. The new law focused on the transportation and possession of “cheap or junk guns” like the thirty-eight caliber Saturday night special. The Gun Control Act of 1968 came about in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy. This law was initially looked on and challenged as racist, because it seemingly kept lower economic classes from being able to own a firearm. The new law also established the gun ownership age requirements, prohibits interstate sales of firearms and ammunition, prohibits the sale of firearms and ammunition by mail, and prohibits the importation of foreign military surplus weapons. This law at it s creation and still today is the primary gun control law on the books. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan was almost assassinated by John Hinckley. This triggered a renewed attention to handguns and their necessity to the average citizen. In 1983 another case was brought to the Supreme Court concerning a Morton Grove, Illinois ordinance that banned all handguns with in the town s limits. The Supreme Court upheld the towns right for the ban. After the ban the issue became inflamed form both sides of the controversy. Gun owners feared that similar bans would spread through out the country. In 1986 amendments were added to the Gun Control Act of 1968 to ease tensions among gun owners. The amendments basically tightened the requirements needed to prove gun violations and strengthened the standards for reasonable search. The amendments also introduced licensing of firearms and prohibits violate felons to own firearms of any sort. (Ref. 8) This tactic worked and attention to the issue faded. In 1993 the Brady Bill, named after James Brady who was injured in the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, was passed. The Bill required a five-day waiting period and a background check on gun sales. In 1994, Congress passed a law that added semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons to the list of firearms that are illegal to sale possess and transport. In our brief history there have been few issue