2008 Woodie Awards
Spotlight on Gun Control: What it Means for the Nation and Pace
Ashley Studley
Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: Feature
With the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, a debate that has been going on throughout the years is once again fresh in everyone's mind: gun control.
As the Second Amendment states, Americans have the right to bear arms and that right is never to be infringed upon. But is gun control slipping away? The National Firearms Association has set specific laws in regards to eligibility, purchasing, and ownership, but unfortunately, it is still easy for firearms to get into the wrong hands.
According to Wikipedia, after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert. F Kennedy, the United States passed the Gun Control Act (GCA) in 1968. This act prohibited anyone from ordering guns through mail, and from buying or selling firearms to residents of other states. All but 24 states allow personal selling if the two people are residents of the same state. New York is one state which prohibits such selling. The GCA also established that any buyers of firearms must first obtain a Federal Firearms License. The law also demands that the seller of any gun perform a background check on the potential buyer before a transaction is made.
Many aspects of the GCA were vague, and created confusion in regards to specific restrictions. In 1986, the Firearm's Owners' Protection Act established a list of qualities that would make one ineligible to purchase a firearm. For example, individuals under 18 years old cannot purchase a shotgun or a rifle, and those under 21 cannot buy a handgun. Anyone that has been convicted of a non-business related crime and received a sentence of more than one year cannot purchase a gun. Illegal foreigners, drug abusers, those convicted with domestic abuse charges, and mentally ill people are also prohibited from the purchase of a firearm.
In 1993, former President Bill Clinton signed into effect the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act which established that all persons purchasing a firearm must wait a certain amount of days while the seller runs a background check. Since 1998, the National Instant Check System (NICS), which is run by the FBI, has reduced the waiting period to only minutes, allowing sellers to run background checks online.
As the Second Amendment states, Americans have the right to bear arms and that right is never to be infringed upon. But is gun control slipping away? The National Firearms Association has set specific laws in regards to eligibility, purchasing, and ownership, but unfortunately, it is still easy for firearms to get into the wrong hands.
According to Wikipedia, after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert. F Kennedy, the United States passed the Gun Control Act (GCA) in 1968. This act prohibited anyone from ordering guns through mail, and from buying or selling firearms to residents of other states. All but 24 states allow personal selling if the two people are residents of the same state. New York is one state which prohibits such selling. The GCA also established that any buyers of firearms must first obtain a Federal Firearms License. The law also demands that the seller of any gun perform a background check on the potential buyer before a transaction is made.
Many aspects of the GCA were vague, and created confusion in regards to specific restrictions. In 1986, the Firearm's Owners' Protection Act established a list of qualities that would make one ineligible to purchase a firearm. For example, individuals under 18 years old cannot purchase a shotgun or a rifle, and those under 21 cannot buy a handgun. Anyone that has been convicted of a non-business related crime and received a sentence of more than one year cannot purchase a gun. Illegal foreigners, drug abusers, those convicted with domestic abuse charges, and mentally ill people are also prohibited from the purchase of a firearm.
In 1993, former President Bill Clinton signed into effect the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act which established that all persons purchasing a firearm must wait a certain amount of days while the seller runs a background check. Since 1998, the National Instant Check System (NICS), which is run by the FBI, has reduced the waiting period to only minutes, allowing sellers to run background checks online.
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