Gun control and new gun laws are nothing new in the United
States. On the 5th, Obama decided to go forth on the issue, without
Congress’s planning, to unveil a series of executive actions designed to help
prevent gun violence in the United States. To take a look and put into perspective
the events of the gun laws, the history of gun laws has been taken into
account. Back in 1934, new criminal penalties and taxes on machine guns and
sawed-off shotguns were implemented. The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 put
restrictions on the interstate guns and ammunition. It required for the first
time, dealers to register themselves. This came to be in response to Al Capone
and Bugs Moran gun violence. The next big thing to happen in terms of gun
control was after the assassinations of JFK, MLK Jr., and Robert Kennedy.
Lyndon Johnson singed a reform law which introduced stricter licensing and
registration standards. It also introduced a ban on the selling of guns and
ammunition to felons. Then in 1986, Reagan signed the Firearm Owner’s
Protection Act banned the future sale of any fully automatic weapons or machine
guns to private purchasers. Bill Clinton passed the Brady Bill in 1993 which
required by law that federally licensed dealers conduct background checks on
handgun purchases. Reagan, Ford, and Carter signed a letter endorsing new
legislation that banned the manufacture of certain weapons. Commonly known as the
“Assault Weapons Ban” the law expired in 2004 and is yet to be renewed. Most
recently, on Tuesday, Obama stated how ‘anybody in the business of selling
firearms must get a license and conduct background checks or be subject to
criminal prosecutions.’
How does this new idea relate to the ideas of gun control from
the past?
How did the past gun control actions influence what the
President said and what is going on in the country?
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