Federal Firearms Act of 1938 (FFA): Requires that gun manufacturers, importers, and those in the business of selling firearms have a Federal Firearms License (FFL). Prohibits the transfer of firearms to certain classes of people, such as convicted felons.
Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA): Focuses primarily on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers.
Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) (1986): Revised and partially repealed the Gun Control Act of 1968. Prohibited the sale to civilians of automatic firearms manufactured after the date of the law's passage. Required ATF approval of transfers of automatic firearms.
Undetectable Firearms Act (1988): Effectively criminalizes, with a few exceptions, the manufacture, importation, sale, shipment, delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of firearms with less than 3.7 oz of metal content.
Gun-Free School Zones Act (1990): Prohibits unauthorized individuals from knowingly possessing a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
Fugitives, those convicted of a felony with a sentence exceeding 1 year, past or present, and those who were involuntarily admitted to a mental facility are prohibited from purchasing a firearm; unless rights restored. Forty-five states have a provision in their state constitutions similar to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. The exceptions are California, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York. In New York, however, the statutory civil rights laws contain a provision virtually identical to the Second Amendment.[4][5] Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court held in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) that the protections of the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms for self-defense in one's home apply against state governments and their political subdivisions.[6] In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not require "proper cause" or a "special need" when issuing a license for concealed carry.[7]
In 1934, the National Firearms Act (NFA) was signed into law under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Administration in an effort to curb prohibition-era violence.[9][10] Between 1920 and 1933 the homicide rate in the United States had been rising year-over-year as an example of the unintended consequences of passing Prohibition into law, and the concomitant violence associated with making illegal a widely in-demand product.[9][11] The NFA is considered to be the first federal legislation to enforce gun control in the United States, imposing a $200 tax, equivalent to approximately $3,942 in 2022, on the manufacture and transfer of Title II weapons. It also mandated the registration of machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, heavy weapons, explosive ordnance, suppressors, and disguised or improvised firearms. When Prohibition was ultimately repealed in 1933, and the monopoly on alcohol maintained by organized crime was ended, there was a significant decline in the homicide rate.[9][10] In fact, "...homicides continued to diminish each year for eleven years straight [after the repeal of Prohibition]."[9][11]
In 1939, through the court case United States v. Miller, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Congress could regulate interstate selling sawed-off shotguns through the National Firearms Act of 1934, deeming that such a weapon has no reasonable relationship with the efficiency of a well-regulated militia.
In 1968, following the spree of political assassinations including: the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, President Lyndon B. Johnson, pushed Congress for the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). It repealed and replaced the FFA, regulated “destructive devices” (such as bombs, mines, grenades, and other explosives), expanded the definition of machine gun, required the serialization of manufactured or imported guns, banned importing military-style weapons, and imposed a 21 age minimum on the purchasing of handguns from FFLs. The GCA also prohibited the selling of firearms to felons and the mentally ill.
In 1986, contrary to prior gun legislation, the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) (1986), passed under the Ronald Reagan administration, enacted protections for gun owners. It prohibited a national registry of dealer records, limited ATF inspections to conduct annual inspections (unless multiple infractions have been observed), allowed licensed dealers to sell firearms at "gun shows" in their state, and loosened regulations on the sale and transfer of ammunition. However, the FOPA also prohibited civilian ownership or transfer of machine guns made after May 19, 1986, and redefined "silencer" to include silencer parts.
In 2003, the Tiahrt Amendment proposed by Kansas Representative, Todd Tiahrt, limited the ATF to only release information from its firearms trace database to only law enforcement agencies or a prosecutors in connection with a criminal investigation.
In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in the case District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment is an "individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia" and struck down Washington D.C.'s handgun ban. But the Supreme Court also stated "that the right to bear arms is not unlimited and that guns and gun ownership would continue to be regulated."
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in the case McDonald v. Chicago that the Second Amendment is incorporated and thus applies against the states.
In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in the case Caetano v. Massachusetts that "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding".
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen "that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home" and that "the State’s [may-issue] licensing regime violates the Constitution."
An individual right to own a gun for personal use was affirmed in Heller, which overturned a handgun ban in the federal District of Columbia.[14] In the Heller decision, the court's majority opinion said that the Second Amendment protects "the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home."
However, in delivering the majority opinion, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote on the Second Amendment not being an unlimited right:
Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court's opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.[15][16]
The four dissenting justices argued that the majority had broken prior precedent on the Second Amendment,[17] and took the position that the amendment refers to an individual right, but only in the context of militia service.[18][19][20][21]
In McDonald, the Supreme Court ruled that, because of the incorporation of the Bill of Rights, the guarantee of an individual right to bear arms applies to state and local gun control laws and not just federal laws.[22]
The Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry guns in public for self-defense in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen in 2022.[23][24] Previously, federal appeals courts had issued conflicting rulings on this point. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in 2012 that it does, saying, "The Supreme Court has decided that the amendment confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside."[25] However, the Tenth Circuit Court ruled in 2013 that it does not, saying, "In light of our nation's extensive practice of restricting citizen's freedom to carry firearms in a concealed manner, we hold that this activity does not fall within the scope of the Second Amendment's protections."[26] More recently, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled in its 2016 decision Peruta v. San Diego County that the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right of gun owners to carry concealed firearms in public.[27]
Eligible people
The following are eligible to possess and own firearms within the United States,[29][30] though further restrictions apply:
Aliens (or foreign nationals) who have been lawfully admitted to the United States under nonimmigrant visas[33] but only if they fall under one of the following exceptions:[34][35]
admitted into the United States for lawful hunting or sporting purposes
possesses a lawful hunting license or permit issued by any US state
an official representative of a foreign government who is accredited to the United States Government or the Government's mission to an international organization having its headquarters in the United States or is en route to or from another country to which that alien is accredited
an official of a foreign government or a distinguished foreign visitor who has been so designated by the Department of State
a foreign law enforcement officer of a friendly foreign government entering the United States on official law enforcement business
has received a waiver from the United States Attorney General, as long as the waiver petition shows this would be in the interests of justice and would not jeopardize the public safety under 18 U.S. Code § 922(y)(3)(c)[36]
non-resident of any US state unless the receipt of firearms are for lawful sporting purposes[37]
Each state has its own laws regarding who is allowed to own or possess firearms, and there are various state and federal permitting and background check requirements. Controversy continues over which classes of people, such as convicted felons, people with severe or violent mental illness,[38] and people on the federal no-fly list, should be excluded.[39][40] Laws in these areas vary considerably, and enforcement is in flux.
Prohibited persons
The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits certain classes of people from buying, selling, using, owning, receiving, shipping, carrying, possessing or exchanging any firearm or ammunition.[1][41] Those prohibited include any individual who:
These categories are listed on ATFForm 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record background check form.[46] According to the US Sentencing Commission, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 prohibited persons are convicted of unlawfully receiving or possessing a firearm each year.[47] In 2017, over 25.2 million background checks were performed.[48]
Manufacturers
Under United States law, any company or gunsmith which in the course of its business manufactures firearms of finished frames and receivers, or modifies firearms for resale, must be licensed as a manufacturer of firearms.[49] These regulations do not apply to manufacturers of kit components and non-firearms like so-called "80% receivers".[50]
^ abFrankel, Todd C.; Boburg, Shawn; Dawsey, Josh; Parker, Ashley; Horton, Alex (March 27, 2023). "The gun that divides a nation". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Frankel et al. credit: "Source: National Shooting Sports Foundation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives." Frankel et al. quote: "The shift began after the 2004 expiration of a federal assault weapons ban that had blocked the sales of many semiautomatic rifles. A handful of manufacturers saw a chance to ride a post-9/11 surge in military glorification while also stoking a desire among new gun owners to personalize their weapons with tactical accessories."
^Folajtar v. Attorney General, No. 19-1687, at *6 (3d Cir. November 24, 2020)
^Bhagwat, A. (2010). The Myth of Rights: The Purposes and Limits of Constitutional Rights. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN9780195377781. Justice Stevens begins his opinion by conceding Justice Scalia's point that the Second Amendment right is an 'individual' one, in the sense that '[s]urely it protects a right that can be enforced by individuals.' He concludes, however, that all of the historical context, and all of the evidence surrounding the drafting of the Second Amendment, supports the view that the Second Amendment protects only a right to keep and bear arms in the context of militia service.
^Bennett, R.; Solum, L. (2011). Constitutional originalism : A Debate. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 29. ISBN9780801447938. In both dissents, the clear implication is that if the purpose of the Second Amendment is militia–related, it follows that the amendment does not create a legal rule that protects an individual right to possess and carry fire arms outside the context of service in a state militia.
^Schultz, D.A. (2009). Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution. New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 201. ISBN9781438126777. Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the debate over the Second Amendment was not whether it protected an individual or collective right but, instead, over the scope of the right to bear arms.
^Matter of H-N-, 22 I&N Dec. 1039 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain., 1040-45 (BIA 1999) (en banc).
^8 U.S.C.§ 1101(a)(13)(A) ("The terms 'admission' and 'admitted' mean, with respect to an alien, the lawful entry of the alien into the United States after inspection and authorization by an immigration officer."); Matter of D-K-, 25 I&N Dec. 761 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain., 765-66 (BIA 2012).
^United States v. Torres, 911 F.3d 1253 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain., 1255 (9th Cir. 2019); 8 U.S.C.§ 1365(b) ("An illegal alien ... is any alien ... who is in the United States unlawfully....").
^Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain., 2194 (2019); United States v. Singh, 979 F.3d 697 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. (9th Cir. 2020) ("B1/B2 nonimmigrant visa holders do not automatically qualify for § 922(y)(2)'s exception and, by a plain reading of the statute, are subject to the prohibition on gun possession."); United States v. Gear, No. 19-10353 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. (9th Cir. January 19, 2021); United States v. Mora-Alcaraz, No. 19-10323 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. (9th Cir. January 21, 2021).
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