Is gun control an issue for each state to decide?

From 1800 to 1865, the issues of gun rights rarely entered the national conversation. However, court cases in Kentucky and Arkansas set the stage for future debates about the Second Amendment. In 1822, the court in the Kentucky case decided that bearing arms was an individual right. In 1842, the court in Arkansas found that people could have guns, but each state could regulate their use and ownership. These opposing views marked the start of the first great debates on lethal weapons ...

A Culture of Guns

During the 1800s, America's demand for guns grew as quickly as the population did, especially as the country expanded westward. This period saw the start of several successful firearm manufacturers, including Colt and Remington. Competition between the companies sped up advances in technology. Guns became more accurate, more powerful, and more reliable every year.

During the Civil War, the science of gunmaking took another leap forward. Weapons were often created for purposes other than hunting or personal safety. They were made to kill other humans. More than four million guns were either made in the U.S. or imported from Europe during the war. When peace was declared, young men on both sides of the Civil War brought these weapons home with them — along with the knowledge of how to use them.

Many of these former soldiers headed west seeking adventure and fortune. This was the beginning of what Americans called the "Wild West." Daring train and stagecoach robberies, shootouts on streets and in saloons, and battles with Native Americans all became part of popular culture. These types of stories thrilled kids in the East who read about them in dime novels. Meanwhile, performers such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Frank Butler, and Annie Oakley brought audiences to their feet at Wild West shows. Even today, we still celebrate Western heroes and villains in movies, books, and television shows.

Denying Gun Ownership

It was in this atmosphere that the first serious questions about gun control reached the Supreme Court. Prior to the Civil War, no one believed strongly that a citizen of the United States should be denied the right to own a lethal weapon. This view changed after the Fourteenth Amendment passed in 1868. It stated that anyone born in the U.S. was now considered a citizen — including millions of slaves freed as a result of the Union's victory over the Confederate Army.

The thought of former slaves suddenly armed sent waves of panic through the South. Laws were passed to keep guns out of the hands of African Americans. Some outlawed people of color from owning all types of guns except for the most expensive pistols. This had the desired effect, as most African Americans in the South could not afford these weapons.

In 1873, after a disputed election in Colfax, Louisiana, a group of whites attacked a group of former slaves gathered at the city's courthouse. More than 100 African Americans were killed, most after they had surrendered. Two members of the white mob were arrested and charged under the Enforcement Act of 1870. The local court decided they were guilty of breaking this federal law, which made it illegal for two or more people to deprive anyone of their constitutional rights, including the right to bear arms. The Supreme Court eventually heard the case (United States v. Cruikshank) and overturned the conviction of the two men. The justices said that the Second Amendment allowed states to do as they pleased on the subject of gun rights.

Thirteen years later, the Supreme Court confirmed this position when it upheld the conviction of Herman Presser, who led an armed group of German Americans in Chicago. The group was formed to protect workers against the thugs hired by large companies to break up labor protests. The justices agreed that states and cities could make their own gun laws. However, they warned that a state could not disarm its citizens to the point where they no longer could form a militia.

By 1911, the question of whether a state could make its own firearms laws seemed to have been settled once and for all. In that year, New York enacted the Sullivan Law. It said that everyone owning or buying a handgun had to apply for a police permit.

The Sullivan Law passed with almost no opposition. Only the National Rifle Association (NRA) objected. The NRA was formed in 1871 to promote rifle ownership, marksmanship, and firearms safety. In 1911, it lacked the experience and organization to oppose New York's handgun law. That would change over the next 100 years. Should a group that mainly promoted rifles have been concerned with limiting the ownership of handguns in 1911?

Should the government outlaw certain types of weapons?

The Sullivan Law took a new step in the gun rights debate by targeting the owners of handguns because of how these weapons were used. In crowded cities such as turn-of-the-century New York, handguns were often the weapons of choice for criminals. The Sullivan Law tried to address this problem. If each handgun owner had a license on file with the police, fewer of these weapons would fall into the hands of criminals. This attempt to prevent crime by outlawing certain types of weapons triggered the next great debate on lethal weapons ...

The First National Gun Control Law

Just as the NRA and other early opponents of gun control feared, the Sullivan Law was used by the New York City Police Department to keep citizens from obtaining handguns. Business owners and people who handled a lot of cash were granted licenses for handguns. So were the wealthy and influential. This method of gun control spread to other states, with varying success.

One way of buying guns without a license was ordering them through the mail. This form of purchase enabled a person to build up an arsenal of weapons without ever applying for a license. Even where licenses were not required, it meant that gun owners could protect their privacy.

In the 1920s, during the early years of Prohibition, the use of guns became more widespread. The government had made it illegal to make, move, or sell liquor, but Americans still wanted to buy and drink alcohol. They were willing to pay a high price to do so. Criminals saw an opportunity to make a lot of money and formed organized gangs to meet this demand.

Gangsters found it easy to buy their guns through the mail. Once they were armed, they fought each other for control of towns and neighborhoods. Many innocent people were injured or killed in these battles. In 1927, under great public pressure, Congress passed a law banning the mail-order sale of handguns. This marked the first national gun control law.

The "Tommy" Gun

More lethal than the handgun was the automatic weapon. An automatic weapon is one that fires multiple shots with one squeeze of the trigger. During the 1920s, the Thompson Submachine Gun — or "Tommy Gun" — was the automatic weapon of choice for gangsters, as well as the police and other law enforcement groups. It was loud and powerful, and sprayed bullets over a wide area.

In 1932, Americans elected Franklin Roosevelt as their president. As governor of New York, Roosevelt had fought an attempt to get rid of the Sullivan Law. He also believed that the Tommy Gun should be outlawed. In 1934, Roosevelt pushed through the National Firearms Act. It placed strict regulations on "gangster weapons," including machine-guns, sawed-off rifles, and shotguns that could be easily hidden under a coat. It also outlawed silencers. A silencer is a metal cylinder that muffles the noise a gun makes.

Originally, Roosevelt hoped to include handguns in the National Firearms Act. However, the NRA worked with gun manufacturers to eliminate them from the bill. Gun rights supporters convinced lawmakers that limiting the sale of handguns would not keep them away from criminals, and that it might leave millions of people defenseless.

In 1937, the Justice Department urged the government to reconsider its position on handguns. A year later, the Federal Firearms Act became a law. It made buying and owning handguns a bit more difficult, but the changes were mostly symbolic. The original language of the bill was weakened due to a compromise. A competing law had been proposed with strong support from the NRA. As the organization grew in size and power, it enjoyed more influence in the gun rights debate.

During the debate over new federal firearms laws, the NRA suggested the creation of a waiting period for buying certain guns. Today, a brief waiting period would give the government time to run a computerized background check on a gun buyer. However, in the 1930s, there were no computers. The idea back then was to give angry people time to "cool off" in case they were buying a weapon to harm or threaten someone else. Was this "cooling off "strategy reason enough to justify a waiting period?

Do all Americans have the right to bear arms?

Following the passage of national firearms laws in the 1920s and 1930s, the debate over gun rights in America went through a quiet period that lasted a quarter-century. The debate was reignited in the 1960s, when gun violence returned to the headlines. The federal government responded by enacting strong new laws to limit who could purchase and carry firearms. Some of these laws seemed to be aimed at specific groups that were considered especially dangerous. This led to a brand new debate ...

Surprise at the Statehouse

In the spring of 1967, a group of 30 African Americans walked into the California Statehouse in Sacramento. They hoped to stop the passage of a law they believed was aimed at them. The law would prevent people from carrying a loaded weapon in any California city.

In this era of public protest, it was not unusual for large groups to stage public rallies. However, this was different. The protesters were members of the Black Panther Party, and they were armed. Their leaders, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, believed that the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was failing.

The Black Panthers felt that African Americans were being unfairly targeted by police. Seale and Newton urged their followers to take advantage of the Second Amendment and arm themselves for their own protection. Seale had faced off with police before and always felt emboldened when they backed down. But politicians saw the issue differently. They passed the proposed law, thanks in part to the strong support of the California Governor Ronald Reagan.

The Gun Control Act of 1968

Also in 1967, riots broke out in Detroit, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey. Americans worried that violence might erupt in other cities. Things got worse in 1968 when two prominent political leaders — Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy — were murdered with guns in separate incidents. (Kennedy's brother, U.S. President John Kennedy, had been killed by a sniper's bullet in 1963.) All three men stood for peace, justice, and equality. The nation wondered when the violence would end.

Congress soon passed the first nationwide gun control law in 30 years. It raised the minimum age of handgun owners from 18 to 21. It also started a national gun licensing system. Gun control supporters praised the actions of the federal government.

A few months later, the new law was expanded further into what was called the Gun Control Act of 1968. It attacked the problem of gun violence in several steps. The most important focused on who could legally own a lethal weapon. The law made it illegal for anyone to sell a gun to:

1 a person convicted of a felony (or on trial for one)

2 a fugitive from justice

3 a known drug addict

4 someone who had been found by a court to be mentally impaired

5 an illegal immigrant someone who had been dishonorably discharged from the military

6 anyone under a restraining order

7 anyone who had been convicted of domestic violence

Although the legislation did not discriminate against specific ethnic groups or dangerous organizations, it did spell out clearly who could and could not own a gun in America. Still, many critics claimed this part of the Gun Control Act of 1968 was aimed at the urban poor, and specifically African Americans.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 did more than criminalize gun ownership for certain individuals. Provisions were also written to stop the flow of cheap handguns into U.S. cities. These weapons were called "Saturday Night Specials," and most were made overseas. This part of the law was not successful. Although foreign companies could no longer ship Saturday Night Specials into the country, American firearms manufacturers were still allowed to make them. What might the government's goals have been in trying to protect American-made Saturday Night Specials?

Are background checks an invasion of privacy?

For the last few decades, almost everyone who wanted to buy a gun from a licensed supplier in America had to undergo a background check. Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) keeps files on people it does not want to purchase weapons. Detailed background checks are commonly done on people who are applying for jobs or loans. However, they are rarely done for any other type of purchase. In an age when personal information is sometimes used to discriminate against someone or steal their identity, there is a new debate ...

The Brady Act

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in Washington, D.C. Also wounded were a Secret Service agent, a Washington police officer, and Reagan's Press Secretary, James Brady. Brady's wound was the most serious. He suffered a brain injury that left him paralyzed for the rest of his life.

The gunman, John Hinckley, Jr., had purchased his weapon in Texas in 1980 using an old driver's license and a fake address. He had also been under the care of a psychiatrist. Four days before the shooting, Hinckley had been arrested (and then released) at an airport for trying to take three guns onto a plane. As these facts emerged, it became clear that a basic background check might have prevented Hinckley from committing his crime.

This angered Brady's wife, Sarah. She soon became a leader in the American gun control movement. In 1987, she helped introduce a gun control law to Congress. It called for a mandatory background check and waiting period before a gun could be purchased. The NRA opposed these ideas, even though the organization itself had once proposed a waiting period. After much debate, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act became a law in 1993.

The Battle Continues

The NRA immediately tried to strike down the Brady Act, claiming that the legislation was unconstitutional. The organization argued that the federal government could not tell state and local police that they had to conduct background checks. The NRA cited the Tenth Amendment, which says that states should keep their freedom and independence in matters not covered by the Constitution.

The Supreme Court agreed with the NRA on this point but refused to strike down the Brady Act. Instead, the justices decided that officials could continue with background checks if they wanted to. Only one state halted background checks. In 1998, the federal government took more decisive action when it went online with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Using the phone or a computer, NICS made background checks instantaneous for more than 90 percent of gun purchases from licensed dealers. Since then, more than 2 million purchases have been blocked by NICS. Around two-thirds of the people denied were either convicted felons or fugitives from justice.

For the most part, the Brady Act does not cover firearms bought at gun shows, over the Internet, sold privately, or given as gifts. That means the felons and fugitives identified by NICS might still be able to purchase guns. Also, the Brady Act only works "one-way" — it does not enable the government to record what guns people are buying. As a result, there is no national gun registry, which is a goal of many gun control supporters. Preventing the creation of a gun registry is a major goal of the NRA, which believes that the government intrudes on the privacy of citizens when it seeks this information. Should the government have the right to keep track of every gun and every gun owner?

Do gun companies have rights?

A company can be held legally responsible if it makes a product that harms or kills people. It can even be forced to change the way it does business. But when firearms manufacturers make a product that harms or kills people, they are not held responsible unless the gun in question has a flaw or defect. If a gun is misused, the fault lies with the person pulling the trigger. Supporters of gun controls insist that gunmakers must do more to protect the public. This has brought the debate on gun rights to the front door of manufacturers ...

Gun Control on a Roll

One year after passage of the Brady Act, Congress gave gun control supporters another victory when it passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. "Assault weapon" is a general term used to describe semi-automatic firearms that are made to look like military-style weapons. These types of guns can fire bullets as quickly as someone can pull the trigger, so they have tremendous killing power.