The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 made another important advance for gun control. According to Collier's, "it provided for the licensing of all firearms manufactures, importers, and dealers: required dealers to keep records of their transactions and prohibited the sale of any firearm to a convicted felon or to a fugitive from justice" (C214). Since the 1938 Federal Firearms Act was established, it was still fairly easy to acquire a gun because dealers were not forced to investigate a purchasers" eligibility. The assassinations of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968 became the driving force for new congressional action. According to U.S. News, "The Firearms Act of 1968 placed restrictions on the interstate traffic in firearms and tightened eligibility requirements; persons under 18 years of age, drug addicts, and those who had been patients in a mental institution were among those legally barred from purchasing a gun. .
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I believe that in order for gun control legislation to work, it needs to be uniformly abided by every state in the U.S. Currently; there are some states that have strict gun control laws while others do not. If an individual is able to purchase a firearm in a state with lax gun control laws, it defeats the purpose of controlling firearms in other states. A potential criminal can easily purchase a gun in a state that has soft gun laws and commit a crime with it in any state regardless of the law. The impact of any gun legislation though will only be limited. Laws cannot stop violent crime and homicides from occurring. No Washington D.C. gun legislation prevented a gunman from attempting to murder President Ronald Reagan or the recent sniper attack that killed 10 people across five states. Guns need to be out of the hands people who are known to be a threat to society. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Muhammad bought the rifle when he was under a restraining order for domestic violence in his divorce case"(Fineman sat26,2000 20).
