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Encyclopedia > Gun Control Act of 1968
U.S. Firearms
Legal Topics
Assault weapons ban
ATF (law enforcement)
Brady Handgun Act
Federal Firearms License
Firearm case law
Firearm Owners Protection Act
Gun Control Act of 1968
Gun laws in the U.S. — by state
Gun laws in the U.S. — federal
Gun politics in the U.S.
National Firearms Act
Second Amendment
Straw purchase
Sullivan Act (New York)
Violent Crime Control Act

The Gun Control Act of 1968, Pub. L. No. 90-618, 82 Stat. 1213 (also known as GCA or GCA68, and codified as Chapter 44 of Title 18, United States Code) is a federal law in the United States that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners. // Legal Topics Primary Organizations Liberty Belles Prominent individuals Advocates of firearms Gary Kleck Charlton Heston Wayne LaPierre John Lott Ted Nugent Advocates of firearms control Darrell Scotts Congressoinal Speech Michael D. Barnes Michael Bellesiles James Brady Sarah Brady Tom Diaz Arthur Kellermann Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) Josh Sugarmann... The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was a provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law of the United States that included a prohibition on the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons manufactured after the date of the bans enactment. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, also known as the Brady Bill, was passed by the United States Congress, signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993, and went into effect on February 28, 1994. ... “Gun license” redirects here. ... Firearm case law decisions are numerous in the history of the United States. ... The Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) is a United States federal law that revised many statutes in the Gun Control Act of 1968. ... Many US states have legislated gun (firearm) laws, independent of existing federal firearms laws. ... In the United States of America the right to bear arms is addressed in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. ... Gun Politics, the political aspects of gun control and firearms rights, has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Bill of Rights in the National Archives Amendment II (the Second Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, declares a well regulated militia as being necessary to the security of a free State, and prohibits Congress from infringement of the right of... A straw purchase is any purchase where the buyer is not eligible to own the purchased item according to the law and therefore purchases the item through a proxy buyer. ... The Sullivan Act is a controversial gun control law in New York City. ... The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994) is a piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep. ... In law, codification is the process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming the legal code. ... The United States Code (U.S.C.) is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal law of the United States. ... Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a nation. ... An assortment of modern hand-held firearms using fixed ammunition, including military assault rifles, a sporting shotgun (fourth from bottom), a tactical shotgun (third from bottom), and a sporting rifle (top). ...


The GCA was enacted after several years of contentious debate, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. It primarily focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers. “Martin Luther King” redirects here. ... Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy, also called RFK (November 20, 1925–June 6, 1968) was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy, and was appointed by his brother as Attorney General for his administration. ... Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. The Commerce Clause has been the subject of intense constitutional and political disagreement centering on the extent to...

Contents

FFL System

The Gun Control Act prohibited the direct mail order of firearms (except antique firearms) by consumers and mandated that anyone who wants to buy a gun from a source other than a private individual must do so through a Federally licensed firearms dealer. The Act also banned unlicensed individuals from acquiring handguns outside their state of residence, although long guns (rifles and shotguns) may (under Federal law) be acquired from federally licensed firearms dealers located in other States, provided this is allowed by both the state of purchase and the state of residence. “Gun license” redirects here. ... Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. ... An Antique Firearm is, loosely speaking, a firearm designed and manufactured prior to the beginning of the 20th century- the Boer War is often used as a cut-off event, although the exact definition of what constitutes an Antique Firearm varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. ...


Private sales between residents of two different states are also prohibited without going through an FFL, except for the case of a buyer holding a Curio & Relic license purchasing a firearm that qualifies as a curio or relic.


Private sales between residents of the same state are allowed under federal law.


Current law mandates that a background check be performed if the seller has a federal firearms license. However, two private parties living in the same state may buy and sell firearms without going through an FFL in 24 states.


A person who does not have a Federal Firearms License may not sell or buy guns from other people for the purpose of being in the trade. They must be buying for or selling from their own personal collection. “Gun license” redirects here. ...


States that do not allow private sales: California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York. Additionally in Florida, the state constitution was amended to make this a county option for sales transacted at gun shows. (Private sales between private individuals outside gun shows remain legal throughout Florida.) The densely populated counties of Florida now require either a NICS check at gun shows for private transactions (all FFL transactions require this by federal law), or that the buyer must possess a CCW license, in which case this allows the buyer to take possession immediately upon purchase without any NICS check, paperwork, or 3 day delay. Rural and less densely populated counties in Florida have elected not to control private sales between individuals at gun shows. Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... ... Official language(s) English, Hawaiian Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Area  Ranked 43rd  - Total 10,931 sq mi (29,311 km²)  - Width n/a miles (n/a km)  - Length 1,522 miles (2,450 km)  - % water 41. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... NY redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... national instant criminal background check system ...


States that require an FFL for handguns only: Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode Island. A handgun is a firearm small enough to be carried and used in one hand. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area  Ranked 11th  - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 491 miles (790 km)  - % water 41. ... Official language(s) English Capital Providence Largest city Providence Area  Ranked 50th  - Total 1,214* [1] sq mi (3,144* km²)  - Width 37 miles (60 km)  - Length 48 miles (77 km)  - % water 32. ...


Gunsmith and Factory Repair Exception

While the Gun Control Act prohibits the direct mail-ordering of firearms, a person may ship a gun via contract carrier (UPS or FedEx usually) to a gunsmith (who always has an FFL) or the gunmaker's factory for repairs or modification. After the repair work is done, the gunsmith or the factory can ship the weapon directly back to the customer. United Parcel Service Inc. ... FedEx (NYSE: FDX), properly FedEx Corporation, is a courier company offering overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and logistics services. ... A gunsmith is a person who designs, builds, repairs or modifies firearms to blueprint and customer specifications, using hand tools and machine tools such as grinders and lathes. ...


Marking Requirements

The law also required that all newly-manufactured firearms produced by licensed manufacturers in the United States and imported into the United States bear a serial number. (Firearms manufactured prior to the requirement remained exempt from the requirement to have a serial number.) Defacement or removal of the serial number (if present) is a felony offense. The purpose of the serial number is to connect a person to a firearm when a firearm is recovered from a crime scene or during a criminal investigation. A law enforcement agency makes a request to the BATFE to run what is called a "trace" and then the BATFE contacts the manufacturer of the firearm in question. The manufacturer then uses the serial number to determine which gun store or distributor the weapon was sold to. The gun store the firearm is traced to is then called for a copy of the 4473 that matches the firearm in question and then the purchaser on the 4473 is contacted. A serial number is a unique number that is one of a series assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value. ... For the record label, see Felony Records The term felony is a term used in common law systems for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATFE) is a law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. ... Federal Form 4473, also known as the yellow sheet is a US government form that must be filled out when a person buys a firearm from a Federal Firearm License Holder or gunshop. ...


Prohibited Persons

The original GCA prohibits firearms purchase and ownership by certain broad categories of individuals thought to pose a threat to public safety. However, this list was in contradiction between the House and the Senate versions of the bill, and led to great confusion. This list was later augmented, modified, and clarified in the Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986. The 1986 list is: The Firearm Owners Protection Act is a United States federal law that revised many statutes in the Gun Control Act. ...

  1. Anyone who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year, excluding crimes of imprisonment that are related to the regulation of business practices.
  2. Anyone who is a fugitive from justice.
  3. Anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.
  4. Anyone who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution.
  5. Any alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States or an alien admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa.
  6. Anyone who has been discharged from the US Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions.
  7. Anyone who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his or her citizenship.
  8. Anyone that is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner.
  9. Anyone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. (See the Lautenberg Amendment.)

A person who is under indictment or information for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year cannot lawfully receive a firearm. Such person may continue to lawfully possess firearms obtained prior to the indictment or information. Look up fugitive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into illegal immigration. ... Entry visa valid in Schengen treaty countries. ... A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city or town but now usually a country) and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that either prohibits or compels (enjoins or restrains) a party from continuing a particular activity. ... A misdemeanor, or misdemeanour, in many common law legal systems, is a lesser criminal act. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban (1996) was an amendment to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 which was passed by the 104th US Congress in the Fall of 1996. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment (IPA: ) is a formal charge of having committed a most serious criminal offense. ...


The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 created a national background check system to prevent firearms sales to such "prohibited persons." The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, also known as the Brady Bill, was passed by the United States Congress, signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993, and went into effect on February 28, 1994. ... Background check is a generic term for the process of acquiring information on an individual through third-party services, government organizations and private individuals in the hopes of making a determination on the future actions of an individual based on past actions. ...


Controversy

Various organizations have expressed opposition to some or all of the GCA's provisions. Other provisions of the bill, such as those forbidding firearms ownership by convicted criminals and the mentally ill, were not and have not been opposed by the National Rifle Association. This article concerns the National Rifle Association of the USA. For the UK organisation, see National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is a non-profit group for the promotion of marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection of hunting and personal protection firearm rights...


Opponents argue that the act is excessively restrictive on law-abiding gun owners, while failing to prevent crime. [1]


In addition, the GCA created what is commonly known as the "sporting purposes" standard for all imported firearms, declaring that they must "be generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." As interpreted by BATFE, "sporting purposes" includes only hunting and organized competitive target shooting. It does not include "plinking" or "practical shooting". [2] The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF) is a law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. ... “Hunter” redirects here. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Practical shooting is a sport which challenges an individuals ability to shoot rapidly and accurately with a full power handgun, rifle, and/or shotgun. ...

The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.

The gun rights advocacy group Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership claims in its booklet Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny that the GCA was inspired by the earlier National Weapons Law of Nazi Germany, which was used to strip opposition groups, dissidents, Jews, and other undesirables from their ability to defend themselves or conduct an effective underground resistance movement. According to the JPFO, Senator Thomas J. Dodd, the author of GCA68, requested that the Library of Congress translate a copy of the National Weapons Law (which he most likely obtained while serving as a war-crimes prosecutor at Nuremberg). A side-by-side comparison of the two laws is alleged to show several similarities with the Nazi-era law, including the concepts of 'sporting use' and 'prohibited persons'. [3] It should be noted that the GCA was written long before the Library of Congress translation was made in June 1968. The reason for the translation is unknown, as Dodd's personal papers have not been made public. [4] Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Gun politics fundamentally involves the politics of two related questions: Does a government have valid authority to impose regulations on guns? And, assuming such authority, should a government regulate guns and to what extent?[1] The answer to these questions and the nature of the politics varies and depends on... The first Granpa Jack Freedom Booklet published by the JPFO. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership or JPFO is a group dedicated to the preservation of gun rights in the United States. ... I love cheese. ... Thomas Joseph Dodd (May 15, 1907-May 24, 1971) was a United States Senator and Representative from Connecticut. ... The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. ... Nuremberg (German: ) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ...


Further reading

  • The Gun Control Act of 1968, Public Law 90-618, with subsequent amendments
  • United States Code, Title 18, Chapter 44 (at the U.S. Government Printing Office)
  • United States Code, Title 18, Chapter 44 (at the Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute)
  • ATF Online
  • ATF Regulations (Search ATF Regulations)
  • ATF Regulations regarding prohibited persons

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Gun Control (1785 words)
Gun ownership varies greatly by region and there is a significant correlation between the percentage of handgun ownership and the rate of gun-related homicide.
Opponents of gun control argue that gun owners often use their weapons to deter crime and that handguns are most commonly used for this purpose.
Gun control opponents are law abiding citizens who put greater trust in individualism than in the government to protect their safety.
Gun Control Act of 1968 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1006 words)
The Gun Control Act prohibited the direct mail order of firearms by consumers and mandated that if a person wants to buy a gun from other than a private individual, he or she has to go to a Federally licensed firearms dealer to buy the gun.
The Act also bans unlicensed individuals from acquiring handguns outside their State of residence, although long guns (rifles and shotguns) may (under Federal law) be acquired from Federally licensed firearms dealers located in other States, provided this is allowed by both the State of purchase and the State of residence.
The gun store the firearm is traced to is then called for a copy of the 4473 that matches the firearm in question and then the purchaser on the 4473 is contacted.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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