Gun control
Gun control refers to all laws enacted at the federal, state, and local level with the intent of placing restrictions on the right of individual private citizens to keep and bear firearms. The United States Constitution explicitly recognizes a right to bear arms.
"Gun control" is the use of legislation to place restrictions on this right. This can include:
- Restricting which persons can own firearms and denying some persons this right
- Restrictions on the number of firearms a person may own, or purchase during a given time period
- Requirements that privately owned firearms be registered with the government. This has led to gun confiscation in countries where it has been enacted.
- Bans on certain types of firearms; for example, handguns or so-called "assault" rifles
- Restrictions on where firearms may be carried, for example into restaurants or post offices
- Requiring a "background check" and/or a "waiting period" to purchase a firearm
- Restricting when and where firearms may be bought and sold, for example banning their sale through the mail
- Requiring licenses or some other form of permission from the government to buy and/or sell a firearm
- Requiring some form of permission from the government to carry a firearm in public, either concealed or openly
- Laws granting special gun rights for some people, for example retired law enforcement officers, which are denied the rest of the public
- Outright bans on carrying firearms in public
- Outright bans on private possession of firearms
In the United States the three primary federal gun control laws are:
- National Firearms Act (1934)
- Gun Control Act (1968)
- Brady Bill (1993)
These laws have further been amended by other laws such as the Firearms Owners Protection Act (1986) and the Omnibus Crime Bill (1994).
Interestingly enough, the Patriot Act is another law that restricts liberties in the name of safety, yet those in favor of the Patriot Act are often opposed to gun control.
Studies by John Lott and others have suggested that gun control isn't practical and doesn't help public safety [1]. Washington, D.C. has one of the highest crime rates in America even though it completely bans private handguns [2]. Opponents of Gun Control claim that such crime statistics show that guns don't kill people, people kill people. However, proponents of gun control often point to the murder-by-handgun rate in the USA, which runs greatly higher per capita of population than any other nation on Earth.
After decades of increasing infringement on Second Amendment rights, the current trend is in the direction of more gun rights. The 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill included a ban on certain rifles labeled "assault" rifles solely because of features of their appearance. This law recenly expired and was not renewed by Congress. Also, Washington's gun ban was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals on March 9, 2007.[3]