It’s a fact that several tragic acts of violence in the US have led to the imposition of tougher firearms regulations over the years. The aim of these regulations is to reduce the number of incidences which lead to death and serious injury, where a firearm is involved.
The regulations have to be considered alongside the right to bear arms which is an important feature of the US Constitution. After all, people regularly use reputable websites such as gungods.net to find guns and scopes to use for entirely legal purposes. So, what has the effect of the regulations actually been?
Explaining the regulations
Let’s start by examining which firearms regulations have been introduced and why.
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A rise in the amount of gangland crime, including the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, led to the introduction of the National Firearms Act of 1934. This meant that anyone who owned a machine gun, short barrelled rifle or shotgun had to register it. A $200 tax was also payable when these weapons transferred in ownership.
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Following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Gun Control Act of 1968 was introduced. Following its introduction, it was no longer legal to sell firearms across state lines by mail or to sell handguns across state lines at all. Weapons that had no use in a sporting sense were also banned from sale. Anyone who manufactured or sold firearms had to be registered and was required to keep records of all transactions.
Some of the restrictions that were imposed in 1968 were lifted when the Firearm Owners Protection Act was introduced, in 1986. It became legal to sell rifles and shotguns by mail order and the inspection procedures regarding gun dealers were limited in scope.
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Further regulations were introduced in 1993, with the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. This new act meant that anyone who purchased a firearm from a dealer who was licensed by the federal government had to have background checks carried out, unless they already have a license to own a gun. The act did not apply to private transactions involving firearms, so it was not all-encompassing.
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One of the latest firearms acts to be imposed was the NICS Improvement Amendments Act which was introduced in 2008, as a direct result of the Virginia Tech shooting. The law did not bring about any requirements but it was suggested that states should share details of people who had been disqualified from owning a firearm.
As well as these federal acts, many states have also imposed some gun control measures over the years.
What are the results?
There is some evidence to suggest that states where there are gun control laws in place have less gun crime. However, it can be difficult to directly access the effect that gun control has on the number of tragedies that are related to firearms.
It’s also worth noting that the influence of the NRA means that many laws are significantly reduced in their reach and power. A further issue is that laws such as the National Firearms Act of 1934 still exist in exactly the same form as they did when they originated; a $200 tax is a lot less severe today.
Federal gun control measures in the US often have little effect on the amount of gun related tragedies that take place as they have little strength in the real world and there are many loopholes which can be exploited.
