Gun Control Act
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (German: Firearms Control Act of 1968 ) is a US federal law that regulates gun law in the USA. The law was part of the Great Society Reform Program and is one of the most significant gun laws at the federal level.
overview
The law was passed by the US Congress in 1968, particularly under the influence of the previous attacks on civil rights activist Martin Luther King and Senator Robert F. Kennedy . The main initiators of the law were the then American President Lyndon B. Johnson , who signed the Gun Control Act on October 22, 1968, and Senator Thomas J. Dodd .
Among other things, the law restricted the sending of firearms by post and prohibited the sale of weapons to serious criminals entirely. The current practice of licensing arms dealers goes back to the Gun Control Act. Under this law, firearms can generally only be purchased in the state in which the purchaser is currently resident. Only US citizens and immigrants with permanent residence permits ( green cards ) are allowed to purchase a gun in retail stores . Private trade across state borders was banned, but private trade between residents of the same state remained unregulated at the federal level because the US Constitution did not give the federal government the power to restrict a state's domestic trade. However, such trade is either restricted or prohibited at the state level in 15 states. However, some states have passed their own laws that generally make gun laws even stricter.
Today's discussion
The Gun Control Act is still a topic of discussion in the US public today. After the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 , there were increasing voices in the USA to further tighten gun law at the federal level. Identity checks are required before every weapon purchase and the ban on semi-automatic weapons. So far, however, despite the urging of President Barack Obama , no new law has been passed at the federal level, as large parts of the Republican Party as well as some Democrats are against such a plan. However, some states implemented stricter regulations after the rampage. As early as 1968, the then President Lyndon B. Johnson had made positive comments about identity checks when buying weapons and spoke of the need for further measures as part of the signing act.
Web links
- Legal text (English)
- English-language info text
- Speech, President Johnson to sign (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Washington Post : Gun Control Lessons from Lyndon Johnson of December 16, 2012 (English)
- ↑ Information text ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at saf.org (English)
- ↑ ABC-News: Gun Control laws in America (English)
