Authors: Dan Baum
The increase in residential robberies from 2004 to 2008 and the number of people killed in such incidents are from Table 7 of
Crime in the United States, 2008
, Uniform Crime Reports. The number of households in America—114 million—is from
State & County QuickFacts
, U.S. Census Bureau,
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html
.
In 2008, twenty-seven people were killed by lightning, and 303 injured, according to
Struckbylightning.org
.
The law that placed the tax on silencers, sawed-off shotguns, and machine guns was the National Firearms Act of 1934. Congress apparently did not believe it had the authority to ban such weapons. It figured that placing an astronomical tax on them would solve the problem. That the tax hadn’t risen in seventy-five years seems extraordinary. Some people told me that it is the only federal tax that has never risen since being instituted, but I was not able to confirm that.
A farmworker earned an average $27.17 a week in 1934, according to the
World Almanac and Book of Facts 1935
.
Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament, with its language about
silencers, can be found in the
Official Journal of the European Union
, L 42/38, February 15, 2003.
The 1990 killing spree that started at the shooting place outside Boulder was committed by a prison escapee named Michael Bell. One can read about him in “Police Catch Prison Escapee Suspected in Killing Spree,” which ran in
The Washington Post
on August 26, 1990.
The assault-rifle ban was contained in H.R. 3355—Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994—a gigantic grab bag that contained funding for judges’ training, rewriting of federal prison rules, grants to police for various purposes, substance-abuse funding, and on and on. The ban was contained in Title XI, Sec. 110101 and 110102, which went by the smoke-and-mirrors title “Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act.”
This is how the final law defined an “assault weapon”:
18 U.S.C. § 921 (30): The term “semiautomatic assault weapon” means—
(A) any of the firearms, or copies or duplicates of the firearms in any caliber, known as—
(i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models);
(ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;
(iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);
(iv) Colt AR-15;
(v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;
(vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12;
(vii) Steyr AUG;
(viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and
(ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12;
(B) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of—
(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
(iii) a bayonet mount;
(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and
(v) a grenade launcher;
(C) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of—
(i) an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;
(ii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
(iii) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the nontrigger hand without being burned;
(iv) a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; and
(v) a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm; and
(D) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least 2 of—
(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
(iii) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 5 rounds; and
(iv) an ability to accept a detachable magazine.
18 U.S.C. § 921 (31): The term “large capacity ammunition feeding device”—
(A) means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device manufactured after the date of enactment of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition; but
(B) does not include an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.
The Dianne Feinstein quotes about spray-firing and light triggers appear in
The Congressional Record—Senate
, May 8, 2003. You can watch Representative Carolyn McCarthy say “a shoulder thing that goes up” on YouTube. The interview with Tucker Carlson took place on April 18, 2007.
The Eric Holder comment about reinstituting the assault-rifle ban was reported by, among others, Jason Ryan on
ABC News
, February 25, 2009. His backpedaling
was reported as “Holder Dials Back His Commitment to Pushing Ban on Assault Weapons,” by Sam Youngman in
The Hill
, November 15, 2009.
A list of the companies making AR-15s can be found at
AR15.com
.
The
Gun Digest
article on Frank DeSomma’s AR-15 ran in the July 2009 edition.
The price of a 1934 Thompson submachine gun comes from a reproduction of the Thompson gun catalog from that year.
This is the way Thomas, the Library of Congress online service, summarizes the provisions of Public Law 99-308, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986:
Amends the Gun Control Act of 1968 to redefine “gun dealer,” excluding those making occasional sales or repairs. Exempts certain activities involving ammunition from current prohibitions.
Permits the interstate sale of rifles and shotguns, provided: (1) the transferee and transferor meet in person to accomplish the transfer; and (2) such sale complies with the laws of both States. Presumes the licensee to have actual knowledge of the laws of both States.
Repeals certain recordkeeping requirements for the sale of ammunition (but retaining such requirements for armor-piercing ammunition).
Revises the current prohibition against the sale of firearms or ammunition to certain categories of individuals by: (1) prohibiting such sales by all persons (current law covers only licensees); and (2) including as additional categories illegal aliens, dishonorably discharged members of the armed forces, and U.S. citizens who renounce their citizenship. Extends the prohibition against shipping firearms or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce to include such individuals.
Makes it unlawful, with certain exceptions, for any individual to transfer or possess a machinegun.
Excludes pawnbrokers dealing in ammunition from current licensing requirements. Declares that a licensed dealer’s personal collection of firearms shall not be subject to recordkeeping requirements in specified circumstances.
Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to revoke a license only where the holder “willfully” violates a provision of this Act. Bars the Secretary from denying or revoking a license based on violations which are alleged in criminal proceedings in which the licensee has been acquitted. Allows the Government
to voluntarily dismiss such charges before trial and still proceed with revocation.
Requires the Secretary to obtain a warrant, based on reasonable cause, to examine a licensed importer’s, dealer’s, or manufacturer’s records, firearms, or ammunition. Provides certain exceptions from the warrant requirement, including a permissible annual inspection to ensure compliance with the recordkeeping requirements.
Requires licensed collectors to maintain records of the receipt, sale, or other disposition of firearms.
Requires all licensees to report all multiple firearms sales.
Requires records maintained by a licensee who has discontinued business to be delivered to the Secretary.
Allows the Secretary to require additional recordkeeping and reports when necessary.
Permits licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers to conduct business at temporary locations other than the one specified on a license (for example, gun shows).
Establishes either a “knowing” (scienter) or “willful” requirement with respect to general violations of this Act. Makes it a misdemeanor for any licensee to knowingly violate the recordkeeping requirements of this Act.
Imposes additional penalties, under certain circumstances, for: (1) the use of a firearm during certain drug trafficking crimes; (2) the use of a machinegun during the commission of a crime; and (3) the use of a firearm equipped with a silencer during the commission of a crime.
Amends the forfeiture provision to require that a firearm be “involved in or used” (instead of “involved in or used or intended to be used”) in a knowing violation of the Gun Control Act. Directs the court to award attorney fees to the prevailing party (other than the United States) in such forfeiture actions.
Imposes a mandatory sentence of not less than 15 years imprisonment and a fine of not more than $25,000 for individuals with three or more prior convictions of robbery or burglary who are convicted of illegally shipping firearms in interstate or foreign commerce. Prohibits the court from: (1) suspending such sentence; or (2) granting parole or probation.
Permits any person prohibited from possessing, shipping, transporting, or receiving firearms or ammunition to apply to the Secretary for relief from such prohibition. Permits any person denied such relief to seek de novo judicial relief in Federal court.
Makes the authority of the Secretary to permit the importation of certain
types of firearms nondiscretionary. Makes it unlawful to import any frame, receiver, or barrel of a firearm which, if assembled, would be prohibited.
Amends the rulemaking authority of the Secretary to provide that no regulation may require: (1) the transfer of records required under this Act to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State; or (2) the establishment of any system of registration of firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions. Requires a 90-day public comment period for proposed regulations.
Prohibits the Secretary from prescribing regulations which require purchasers of black powder to complete affidavits or forms attesting to their exemption from certain provisions of the Federal criminal code.
Permits the interstate transportation of unloaded firearms by any person not prohibited by Federal law from such transportation regardless of any State law or regulation.
Imposes additional penalties for the use of armor-piercing ammunition during the commission of certain drug trafficking crimes.
Amends the National Firearms Act to include within the definition of “machinegun” any part designed and intended solely and exclusively for use in converting a weapon to a machinegun. (Current law includes only a “combination of parts” within such definition.)
Among the local Republican Party chapters that have used machine-gun shoots as fund-raisers is that in Manchester, New Hampshire, as reported in “N.H. Republican Fundraiser to Feature Machine Guns,” Reuters, July 24, 2007.
Howard Dean’s comment about hunters not needing AK-47s appeared in “Dean Walks a Tightrope Over Positions on Gun Control,” by Adam Nagourney and Jodi Wilgoren, in
The New York Times
, October 31, 2003. John Kerry’s comment was reported in “Kerry Takes Aim at Dean Position on Guns,” by Mike Glover of the Associated Press, October 31, 2003. The Bill Clinton quote was reported by Karen Gullo of the Associated Press in her November 16, 1997, story “ ‘You Don’t Need an Uzi’ to Hunt Deer—Clinton Explains Ban on Import of Assault Rifles.” One can watch Cass Sunstein call for a ban on hunting on YouTube: “Cass Sunstein Wants to Ban Hunting.”
On
this page
, I refer to the “40 percent of American households that owned guns.” This comes from a May 1997 Research in Brief bulletin from the National Institute
of Justice called “Guns in America: National Survey of Private Ownership and Use of Firearms,” by Phillip J. Cook of Duke and Jens Ludwig of Georgetown. They found that 40 percent was a decrease from the 1960s.
On October 26, 2011, Gallup reported in “Self-Reported Gun Ownership in U.S. Is Highest Since 1993” that 47 percent of American adults had a gun in their home or on their property, which was down from a high of 54 percent in 1993 but higher than at any time since. More than half (55 percent) of Republicans said they owned a gun, as opposed to 40 percent of Democrats. Gun ownership was highest in the South (54 percent of households), lowest in the East (36).
One can read about the killing of Brandon Franklin by Ronald Simms in such stories as “Suspect in Hollygrove Shooting Turns Himself In Sunday,” by Richard Thompson, in
The Times-Picayune
, May 10, 2010; “Hollygrove Shooting Victim Took Leadership Role in Classroom and in Band,” by Lauri Maggi of
The Times-Picayune
, May 10, 2010; and “Brandon Franklin of T.B.C. Brass Band Murdered,” in
Offbeat
, May 12, 2010.
The effectiveness of waiting periods was evaluated in “Firearms Laws and the Reduction of Violence: A Systematic Review,” by Robert A. Hahn, et al.,
AJPM
vol. 28 (2005): 40.
The court case that established that police have no constitutional duty to protect citizens from crime was
Castle Rock
v.
Gonzales
, 545 U.S. 748 (2005).
The Great Train Robbery
was directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter—Thomas Edison’s former cameraman—in 1903. Ten minutes long, it was filmed in Essex County Park and along the Lackawanna Railroad in New Jersey.