Firearm Related Articles from the Past

[whatbrick]

I was digging through some old reloading data my father collected over the years and ran across some old articles he stashed away at the time.

This one is dated 12/25/74, maybe from the Houston Chronicle but it doesn't say. The bolded entries are mine. My comments are in red.

Gun Control Act Failing - Professor

Chicago(UPI) - Federal gun control legislation has not worked and Congress is unprepared to make "intelligent policy choices" to improve it, a University of Chicago law school professor said.

"Rates of gun violence and the proportion of violent acts that are committed by guns have increased substantially since the Gun Control Act went into effect," said Franklin Zimring, co-director of the university's Center for Studies in Criminal Justice.

Acts 'commited by guns.' As now, they are attributing the crimes to the guns, not the people who actually perform them.

"Behind these increases lies the probability that handgun ownership has become at least a subcultural institution in the big cities which are the main arena of American violence."

So, if they are attributing the violent acts to the guns themselves, shouldn't all areas of the country which had(have) a large proportion of firearms be arenas of violence? If the big cities are the only ones affected, then how can firearms bear the sole responsibility?

The 1968 act, passed after the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luthern King Jr., bans imports of "Saturday night specials" and regulates firearm sales and possession.

Zimring said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms failed to use all the powers granted it under the legislation. The agency did not use its authority fully to gather intelligence and limit gun imports, he said.

However, he said, even with stricter enforcement, the law would not cut down on violent crimes.

Then why have the laws? Facetious question, by the way.

Congress' concern over cheap handgun imports was "somewhat peripheral to the central problem of handgun misuse," Zimbring said.

Banning handgun imports only spurred domestic production. He said the two have canceled one another.

Gun dealers should be forced to keep better records that would make tracing gun ownership easier. That, he said, would help enforce laws banning sales to nonstate residents, and help state and local governments enforce their gun control laws.

Local gun laws also do not work, Zimring said.

I've typed out the article as it appears, so any misspellings and inaccuracies are intentional (on my part, probably not on the author's).

It really doesn't amaze me that absolutely nothing has changed in the past 30+ years since this article was written, but it gives perspective on what we continue to fight for.

Thought this would interesting to post to those interested in history.