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| Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Federal Government Steps In To Regulate Guns, The Gun Control Act Of 1968, The Firearms Owners' Protection Act Of 1986 | |
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Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Federal Government Steps In To Regulate Guns, The Gun Control Act Of 1968, The Firearms Owners' Protection Act Of 1986Additional TopicsRegulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Federal Government Steps In To Regulate GunsAmericans have long debated the issue of federal regulation of firearms. Those in favor of regulation argue that only federal firearm laws can limit access by criminals, juveniles, and other "high-risk" persons, thereby reducing violent crime. Supporters also contend that without federal laws, states with few firearms restrictions will supply guns illegally to states with more restri… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - The Gun Control Act Of 1968The Gun Control Act of 1968 (PL 90-618) was passed in the wake of the fatal shootings of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Senator Robert Kennedy. It repealed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938 and amended the National Firearms Act of 1934 by adding bombs and other destructive devices to machine guns and sawed-off shotguns as items strictly controlled by the government. Its… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - The Firearms Owners' Protection Act Of 1986Nearly twenty years after the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, Congress in 1986 passed major legislation amending the 1968 act. The Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986 (PL 99-308, revised in PL 99-360), commonly referred to as the Gun Control Act of 1986, is still in effect today. The battle over this piece of legislation was fierce. David T. Hardy described the reactions of thos… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - "cop-killer" BulletsThe term "cop-killers" is generally used to describe bullets capable of penetrating police officers' bulletproof vests. Police officers supported the Law Enforcement Officers' Protection Act (PL 99-408), which became law in 1986. It amended the 1968 Gun Control Act to ban the manufacture or importation of certain varieties of armorpiercing ammunition. The law defined th… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Plastic GunsHighly publicized aircraft hijackings in the 1980s led to the passage of the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 (PL 100-649), also known as the "plastic-gun" law. It banned the manufacture, import, sale, transfer, or possession of a "plastic firearm." The act also stated, "[I]f the major parts of the firearms do not permit an accurate x-ray picture of the gun… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Toy GunsA law requiring that a "toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm shall have as an integral part, permanently affixed, a blaze orange plug inserted in the barrel of such toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm" was passed as Section Four of the Federal Energy Management Improvement Act of 1988 (PL 100-615). The law provided for alternative markings if the orange plug could not be used. In … Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Gun-free School ZonesThe Gun-Free School Zones Act [18 U.S.C. Sect. 921(a)(25, 26), 922(q)(1)], part of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (PL 101-647), made it unlawful for anyone to knowingly possess firearms in school zones. The law was quite strict. For instance, it made it illegal to carry unloaded firearms in an unlocked suitcase on public sidewalks in front of one's residence, if that part of the sidewalk is … Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - The Interim Brady Handgun Violence Prevention ActIn 1981 a mentally disturbed young man named John Hinckley, Jr., used a handgun to shoot and seriously wound presidential press secretary James S. Brady during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Since his injury, James Brady and his wife, Sarah Brady, have become high-profile lobbyists for greater control over guns. They became leaders of the gun control lobby, Handgun Control,… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - The "permanent" Brady LawOn November 30, 1998, the five-day waiting period for handgun purchasers was replaced by a national computerized criminal identification system designed to instantly screen purchasers of both handguns and long guns (rifles and shotguns). All firearms dealers and pawnshop owners are now required to run background checks on prospective buyers. In many states, some or all inquiries will be directed t… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Violent Crime Control ActFederal laws have banned the possession of automatic-fire weapons since 1934 and their importation and manufacture for private use since 1986. In response to Patrick Purdy's 1989 killing of five children with a semiautomatic rifle at an elementary school in Stockton, California, several states passed laws banning the sale and possession of semiautomatic weapons (also called assault weapons)… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Federal LicensingBeginning in 1993—even before the changes that came with the 1994 Violent Crime Control Act—the ATF was tightening the procedures for obtaining a Federal Firearms License (FFL), which allowed a person to buy or sell firearms. Each month until late 1992 the ATF received between 2,500 and 3,000 new applications for FFLs and between 4,500 and 5,000 applications for renewals. Between lat… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Amendments To The Gun Control Act Of 1968Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, persons convicted of felony crimes were prohibited from buying or possessing firearms. The Federal Domestic Violence Gun Ban (also known as the Lautenberg amendment to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act for 1997 [PL 104-208]) prohibits the purchase or possession of firearms by anyone—including federal, state, and local law enforcement officers… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Other IssuesThe National Rifle Association (NRA) insists that if the police would only enforce the laws that are already on the books, no more gun laws would be needed. Gun control supporters agree that existing laws should be enforced. "Project Exile" was an experiment intended to enforce existing laws to reduce crimes committed with guns. Initially, both sides of the gun control debate viewed … Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - State Firearms Control LawsMost of the laws regulating firearms are enacted at the state and local levels. Forty-four states have "right to bear arms" provisions in their state constitutions. A 2000 study rated states according to their gun laws (Gun Control in The United States: A Comparative Survey of Firearm Laws, New York: Open Society Institute, April 2000). According to this study, Massachusetts, Hawaii,… Regulations Firearm Laws and Ordinances - Local OrdinancesMany laws regulating guns are local ordinances passed by town, city, and county governments. Most of these statutes regulate the sale of weapons. For example, Salt Lake County, Utah, restricts the possession of "any device or attachment of a kind designed, used or intended for use in silencing the report of any firearm." Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Akron, Ohio, restrict the transfer of po… Citing this materialPlease include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information. Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
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