Gun control
Gun control has been and still is a major issue in the
United States, especially after the mass shooting in
Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people in June, 2016.
Some use it for good use, like protection, but some
use it for their own purposes like revenge or what
they think is necessary. There have even been cases
where it just happens. Children find their way to
these dangerous weapons and injure or kill
themselves when they don't even know what it is or
what purpose it serves. Lets go a little beyond, shall
we?
One shooting that happened in 2016 was the
shooting during a Dallas protest about the recent
police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. During a
peaceful protest on Thursday, July 7, 2016, five
police officers were shot and two civilians were
caught in the crossfire. It was later confirmed that
the ambush came from above the protest and the
five officers didn't survive the injuries. Seven more
were claimed injured afterwards.
Gun control has been an evolving issue; it has been
changed or talked about on six occasions in the past
centennial by the White House and Congress to
regulate guns. Ever since Bill Clinton signed the
expired Assault Weapons Ban, which was made to
restrict guns on the market and being owned by
citizens of powerful firearms, and it hasnt worked at
all.
Legislation was passed in 1934 to make new criminal
consequences with new tax laws and regulations on
machine guns and sawed-off shotguns by notorious
gangsters. Congress added to the National Firearms
Act with more laws after fours years. They added
regulations such as a $200 tax on machine guns and
shotguns which was recorded in a national registry.
On October 22, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson then
signed another major law reform of guns after high
value deaths. For instance, the assassination of John
F. Kennedy. His killer, Lee H. Oswald, used an ordered
rifle to kill JFK in Dallas. Then theres the Martin
Luther King Jr. assassination on April 4, 1968, which
threatened African Americans more than ever.
Robert F. Kennedy then introduced a bill that had
stricter licensing and registration standards, a ban on
the market of guns, ammunition felons and to those
that are mentally incapable. It also had new
standards on interstate sales and so-called
destructive devices, like deadly gases, bombs,
grenades, rockets, and missiles. As a result, it set the
stage for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms in 1972.
As 1986 came, Ronald Reagan signed the Firearms
Owner's Protection Act on May 19. Mainly it banned
further sales on any automatic weapons like machine
guns and to private customers or purchasers. But
this also helped gun activists and the National Rifle
Association who didn't like the Gun Control Act. This
law allowed guns to pass freely through states, but
only if they were locked away or not loaded.
Reagan's press secretary, James Brady, was shot in
the head during the attempt of the assassination of
Reagan within 70 days of his presidency in 1981.
Named after Brady, the Brady Bill was introduced,
which required federal licensed dealers make
background checks on gun purchases, especially
handguns. This requirement didn't last long; it was
phased out by the FBI when they launched their
Criminal Background Check System in November
1998.
That next year, Reagan, and two past presidents,
Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, signed a new
legislation that banned the manufacture, possession
and sale of weapons that are meant for combat plus
limited the size of the magazine or ammo clip to
those heavy firearms.
The Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004 during
the George Bush presidency and the ban has yet to
be renewed. The only real attempt for reauthorization
on gun control was by Rep. David Cicilline, a
democrat in Rhode Island. Yet Congress tries
constantly to reject any attempts to change gun
control laws.
More facts and statistics can be found at:
http://www.ontheissues.org/Background_Gun_Control.
htm