US Gun Laws - Part 1

Let’s talk about the Colorado movie theater killings by James Holmes who 6 years ago was a student at a science fair; laughing and talking to his peers about temporal illusions and his mentor’s work. He received a federal grant from the National Institute of Health; it paid for his classes and gave him $26,000 a year in spending money (only 6 people a year get such a grant). He was Phi Beta Kappa but within the last few months he struggled, failed an oral test on June 7, 2012 and quit his PhD program in neuroscience at Colorado University on June 10. (We hear Holmes’ psychologist began to get concerned but the campus Threat Assessment Team didn’t have time to meet and felt that after he quit school they had no authority over him - no one was notified of the concerns, not even his family). The day after he failed his oral exam, Holmes with only a traffic ticket on his record bought the guns (4 were recovered) legally at 3 local sporting goods stores; yes, even the assault weapon (the guns could’ve been bought with taxpayer money) and bought more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition online. Holmes’ apartment was booby trapped and his mind was clear enough to ask for a lawyer (was appointed a public defender). The movie played at 4,400 theaters across the country and law enforcement put them on high alert. Some movie goers were worried, others were not as they believed the incident was isolated and many had purchased tickets in advance. Thousands of people came together for a vigil recognizing the worse massacre in history. AMC decided that no costumes would be allowed in their theaters anymore. The media talked about the violence in movies and songs and several networks stopped showing the ads for the movie. I wrote about guns in my April 30, 2012 – Guns in the US and May 1 – Law Enforcement Tribulations blogs. It seemed everyone was trying to make sense of Holmes’ action except for those that should. On July 22, I heard that 60% of Americans think we need to enforce the gun laws we have and not create new ones. I disagree. Let’s look at the US gun law history. 

In 1791, the US adopted the Second Amendment which reads: “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." In 1792 Congress enacted the Militia Acts which enlisted every "free able-bodied white male citizen" into the militia and required such citizens to procure "a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than 24 cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball...". The first attempt at a gun ban was in Georgia in 1837; it was declared unconstitutional. The notorious St. Valentine’s Day massacre during the mob wars sparked the Federal Firearms Act of 1934 which imposed heavy regulations on fully automatic firearms. The assassinations of President Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy sparked the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act and Gun Control Act (both in 1968) which banned the mailing of firearms except to licensed dealers and expanded the list of people unable to buy guns. Next came the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act, the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act (ruled unconstitutional as originally written; has been upheld repeatedly after minor edits were made by Congress), the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993) which mandated a background check on any gun purchase from a licensed dealer and then the Federal Assault Weapons Ban aimed mainly at civilian versions of military guns like the AK47 and AR15 along with high capacity magazines (1994). Although there were attempts to extend this bill, Congress let it expire in 2004. Bush on January 7, 2008 did sign HR 660, the "Court Security Improvement Act of 2007," which bars possession of dangerous weapons, in addition to guns, in Federal courts; provides for other protections for Federal judges and other Federal officials; authorizes grants for programs to increase court security; and increases penalties for various violent crimes against the immediate families of Federal officials; HR 3690, the "US Capitol Police and Library of Congress Police Merger Implementation Act of 2007," which, by October 2009, transfers employees of the Library of Congress Police to the U.S. Capitol Police and expands the jurisdiction of the US Capitol Police to include the grounds and building of the Library of Congress; and on January 8, 2008 HR2640, the “NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 which requires accurate information on individuals prohibited from possessing firearms to be transmitted by State and local government and Federal agencies to the Justice Department-administered National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); and provided incentives for facilitating electronic transmission of such information to NICS. 

In 2008, District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use, unconnected with service in a militia. It also specifically stated that individuals have the right to keep a loaded gun at home for self-defense. In 2010 the Supreme Court incorporated the right to apply to the states as well as the federal government in McDonald v. Chicago. The Colorado Supreme Court on March 5, 2012 ruled that the University of Colorado could no longer ban guns from campus, saying the policy violated state law. Before the ruling, the university system had held its 4 campuses exempt from the state's 2003 Concealed Carry Act which barred licensed gun owners from packing heat in certain government buildings, private properties and elementary and high schools (didn’t include college campuses).