Crime and Gun Control

Eleven years ago, in a reflexive effort to “do something” about the murders of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968. It was a fairly typical instance of federal policy-making under stress—with results that could have been, and were, predicted.

The object of the gun law was to cut down on violent crime committed with firearms, and to this end it imposed a host of restrictions on the sale, collection, and use of guns and ammunition. In addition, it conferred extensive powers of enforcement on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) of the Department of the Treasury—previously best known for its attempts to crack down on the illicit production and sale of “moonshine” liquor.

MS

About the Author

M. Stanton Evans

Featured Tags

Eleven years ago, in a reflexive effort to “do something” about the murders of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968. It was a fairly typical instance of federal policy-making under stress—with results that could have been, and were, predicted.

The object of the gun law was to cut down on violent crime committed with firearms, and to this end it imposed a host of restrictions on the sale, collection, and use of guns and ammunition. In addition, it conferred extensive powers of enforcement on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) of the Department of the Treasury—previously best known for its attempts to crack down on the illicit production and sale of “moonshine” liquor.