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Second Amendment
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." -
Georgia
Georgia passes a law banning handguns. The law however will be ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. -
"Black Codes"
Forbid black persons from possessing firearms -
NRA
National Rifle Association is organized around its goal of improving American civilians' marksmanship -
U.S. Congress
Congress passes a law banning the mailing of concealable weapons -
National Firearms Act of 1934
Regulating the manufacture, sale and possession of fully automatic firearms -
Federal Firearms Act of 1938
Places the first limitations on selling ordinary firearms. People who are selling guns are required to obtain a Federal Firearms License. Guns sold to persons convicted of violent felonies are prohibited. -
Gun Control Act of 1968
"Keeping firearms out of the hands of those not legally entitled to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetence." This act regulates imported guns, expands the gun-dealer licensing and record keeping requirements, and places specific limitations on the sale of handguns. -
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
Control of illegal use and sale of firearms and the enforcement of Federal firearms laws. ATF issues firearms licenses and conducts firearms qualification and inspections. -
District of Colombia
Enacts an anti-handgun law which also requires registration of all rifles and shotguns. -
Armed Career Criminal Act
Increases penalties for possession of firearms by persons not qualified to have them under the Gun Control Act of 1986. -
Public Law 99-308
The Firearms Owners Protection Act, relaxes some restrictions on gun and ammunition sales and establishes mandatory penalties, Which includes use of firearms during the commission of a crime. -
Public Law 99-408
Bans possession of "cop Killer" bullets capable of penetrating bulletproof clothing. -
California
Bans possession of semiautomatic assault weapons. -
Public Law 101-647
The Crime Control Act of 1990, bans manufacturing and importing semiautomatic assault weapons in the U.S. -
Public Law 101-647
"Gun-free school zones" are established with specific penalties for violations. -
The Brady Law and Assault Weapon Ban
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, imposes a five-day waiting period on the purchase of a handgun, which requires that local law enforcement agencies conduct background checks. -
The Brady Law and Assault Weapon Ban
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, prohibited the sale, manufacture, importation, or possession of a number of specific types of assault type weapons for a ten year period. How ever, the law ended up expiring on Septemeber 13, 2004, because Congress failed to reauthorize it. -
Printz v. United States
The U.S. Supreme Court, declares the background check requirement of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act unconstitutional. -
American Gun Manufactures
They voluntarily agree to include child safety trigger on all new handguns. -
July
An amendment requiring a trigger lock on every handgun sold in the United States is defeated in the Senate. -
July
The Senate approves an amendment requiring gun dealers to have trigger locks available for sale and creating federal grants for gun safety and educational programs -
October
New Orleans becomes the first U.S. city to file suit against gun makers, firearms trade associations, and gun dealers. -
November 12
Chicago, IL files a $433 million suit against local gun dealers and makers alleging that oversupplying local markets provided guns to criminals. -
November 17
A negligence suit against gun maker Beretta, because the family of a 14-year old boy was killed by another boy with a Beretta handgun, DISMISSED by a California jury. -
December 1
NRA files suit in federal court attempting to block the FBI's collection of information on firearm buyers. -
June
Justice Department reports that when the Brady Bill was enacted it banned 69,000 handguns. -
November 30
Permanent provisions of the Brady Act go into effect. Gun dealers are now required to initiate a pre-sale criminal background check. This was done through the National Instant Criminal Background Check. (NICS) -
May 20
By a 51-50 vote, the U.S. Senate passes a bill requiring trigger locks on all newly manufactured handguns and extending waiting period and background checks. -
September 13
Congress allows the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to expire. -
December
Congress fails to continue funding George W. Bush's 2001 gun control program, Project Safe Neighborhoods. -
December
Massachusetts becomes the first state to have a fingerprint scanning for gun licenses and gun purchases. -
January
California bans the manufacture, sale, distribution or import of the .50 caliber BMG, or the Browning machine gun rifle. -
October
President Bush signs the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. This limits the ability of victims of crimes to sue firearms manufactures and dealers. The law included an amendment requiring all new guns to come with trigger locks. -
January
President Bush signed the National Instant Criminal Background Check Improvement Act requiring gun buyers background checks to be screened for legally declared mentally ill individuals, whom are then ineligible to buy firearms. -
June 26
District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment affirmed the rights of individuals to own firearms. Which then overturned a 32-year old ban on the sale or possession of handguns in the District of Columbia. -
February
A federal law signed by President Barack Obama takes effect allowing licensed gun owners to bring firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are allowed by state law. -
July 29
In an effort to close the “gun show loophole” allowing gun sales to be conducted without Brady Act background checks, U.S. Rep. Speier, Jackie, introduced the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015, to require background checks for all gun sales including the sales made over the Internet and at gun shows. -
June 12
President Obama again called on Congress to enact or renew a law that prohibits the sale and possession of assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition -
October 5
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) introduced the Background Check Completion Act. Sen. Feinstein said that it would close a current loophole in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, that allows gun sales to proceed if a background check is not completed after 72 hours, even if the gun buyer is not legally allowed to purchase a gun. -
October 5
The Background Check Completion Act would require that a background check be fully completed before any gun buyer who purchases a gun from a federally-licensed firearms dealer (FFL) can take possession of the gun. -
September
a bill titled “Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act,” or SHARE Act. While the main purpose of the bill is to expand access to public land for, hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting, a provision added by Rep. Jeff Duncan called The Hearing Protection Act would reduce the current federal restrictions on purchasing firearm silencers, or suppressors. -
October 4
Less than a week after the Las Vegas shooting, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced the “Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act”, that would ban the sale and possession of bump stocks and other devices that essentially turn a semiautomatic weapon to fire in fully-automatic mode. -
October 4
The bill states “It shall be unlawful for any person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a trigger crank, a bump-fire device or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun,”