Abstract
The first federal firearms legislation became effective in 1791 in the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution provides that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” In 1934, Congress enacted the National Firearms Act, and in 1938 they passed the Federal Firearms Act. Together these acts regulated firearms that were transported in interstate and foreign commerce and aided the states in enforcing firearm regulations. An amendment to the 1938 law was passed in 1961 that prohibited people who had been convicted of a felony (rather than a crime of violence) from having a gun. It also prohibited dealers and gun manufacturers from shipping firearms to people who had a criminal record. This was punishable by a prison term exceeding one year from shipping or receiving firearms in interstate or foreign commerce. Unfortunately, the law did not stop some people with criminal records from obtaining mail-order weapons. They simply lied when asked if they had ever been convicted of a crime.1
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Notes
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Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress on Crime and Law Enforcement. March 9, 1966,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1967, 291–99), 294.
Johnson, “Statement by the President on His Gun Control Proposals. June 24, 1968,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969, 738–39), 739;
Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress: ‘The People’s Right to Protection.’ June 24, 1968,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969), 740–42.
Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress on Crime in America. February 6, 1967,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1968, 134–45), 142.
Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress: The Nation’s Capital. February 27, 1967,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1968, 226–39), 233.
Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress on Crime and Law Enforcement: To Insure Public Safety. February 7, 1968,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969, 183–96), 184, 193.
Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress on the District of Columbia: ‘The Nation’s First City.’ March 13, 1968,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969, 383–94), 385–86.
Johnson, “Remarks Upon Signing the Gun Control Act of 1968. October 22, 1968,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969, 1059–60), 1059.
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Ford, “Remarks and Question-and-Answer Session at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. February 8, 1976,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1977, 215–33), 218;
Ford, “Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session at a Public Forum in Indianapolis. April 22, 1976,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1977, 1148–69), 1153.
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Ford, “Special Message to the Congress on Crime. June 19, 1975,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1976, 839–51), 848.
Ibid.; Ford, “Public Forum in Indianapolis,” 1153.
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George H. W. Bush, “Remarks on Afghanistan and a Question-and-Answer Session with Reporters. February 16, 1989,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1990, 100–106), 105;
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G. H. W. Bush, “White House Fact Sheet on Combating Violent Crime. May 15, 1989,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1990, 560–65), 562;
G. H. W. Bush, “Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Crime Control Legislation. March 11, 1991,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1992), 246–47.
William J. Clinton, “Remarks in Columbus, Ohio. August 26, 1996,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1997, 1355–60), 1358.
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Clinton, “Remarks in Columbus, Ohio,” 1358.
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Clinton, “Anticrime Initiative,” 1362.
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G. W. Bush, “Remarks at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day Ceremony. May 15, 1989,” in PPPUS (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1990, 557–60), 558.
Shawn Zeller, “Gun Lobby Fires Back at Press Coverage,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, June 25, 2007, 1893. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report hereafter shortened to CQWR.
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Shawn Zeller, “NRA Sees Anti-Gun Agenda in Ban on Surplus M11-s,” CQWR, September 20, 2010, 2126.
Jason Ryan, “Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban,” ABC News, February 25, 2009, http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story/?id=6960824&page=1 (site discontinued; accessed December 2, 2010).
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© 2011 Nancy E. Marion
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Marion, N.E. (2011). Handguns. In: Federal Government and Criminal Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230337619_12
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