Mood in '68

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Under 1968 GCA, all purchases of handgun ammo had to be registered and you had to be over 21 to purchase. Where I grew up (Oklahoma) we would just tell them the .22LR was for a rifle and they would skip it - though I'm not sure if that was the law or local interpretation of the law.

The ammo registration provision was dropped as part of the 1986 FOPA because it was so useless. I don't think even ATF stood up for it. The only people who wanted it continued were the usual suspects. That is why it always shocks me to see the same stupid idea brought up again - it is as if someone said "Hey, I've got an idea! Lets ban all sales of alcohol to cut down on alcohol-related mayhem."

 

[dab102999]

I wasn't there for the GCA, but I was in the UK in 1988 when they banned all semiauto rifles except .22 rimfires.
At the time, speaking out against the ban was politically equivalent to condoning mass killings. There was no question on the general public's mind that anyone would want to own such a rifle unless they were planning on going on a rampage.
It was all over the news, and the media wanted them banned, so they demonized gun owners.
There was no dissent among the political parties, so it was impossible to vote for a pro gun party because there was no such thing.
The media controlled the situation 100%.

Of course, in those days the media had 100% control over the news that the public had access to.
Britain had already outlawed firearms for self defense long before, and we had no equivalent of the Second Amendment.
We also had no real equivalent to the NRA. Gun advocacy in the UK was splintered, and the attitude was a 'ban their guns as long as we get to keep ours' mentality.

Here today in America, things are different.
We have the Second Amendment, the NRA, lots of pro-gun politicians, a more gun-friendly public, and of course the internet.

May not be the same country but sounds chillingly the same as today dont it....except the nra

 

[230RN]

As I recall it, there was too much, "Oh, they can't do that, we have the Second Amendment to protect our rights," so a lot of gun folks were pretty complacent about the possibility that the law would be passed.

I'm still hearing that.

Riiiight.

I hate to say it, but I was among the complacent. Once burned, though, twice shy.

The problem is basically that our politicos seem to feel they have the license to write any laws they want, since it takes so long for a case to get to the Supreme Court, and at great expense, so what the heck, why not pass it and let the Supremes sort it out.

I just wish that back in the mid-1930s, Miller had not been killed in a gunfight with (presumably) other bootleggers before it came to the oral argument phase at SCOTUS. We'd probably not have the National Firearms Act (NFA34) and there would have been a precendent to not mess with 2A.

So by 1968, regulation of machineguns and other things had become "normal," and nowadays Form 4473 has become "normal."

And so the "normalization" of gun restrictions goes on.

And on.

And soon it might be "abnormal" to have an 11-round magazine.

After all, they're 10% more dangerous than 10-rounders.

Can't have that, now, can we?

Terry, 230RN

 

[bikerdoc]

Like Walter. I was in Viet Nam. 20 yrs old. When I came back I was beyond pissed.

 

[Pilot]

I was a little kid, but I remember thinking the NRA were a bunch of gun nut, ultra right wing rednecks. I know this viewpoint did NOT come from my family. Now where would a child get that type of brainwashing? Hmmmm.......

 

[JRH6856]

Pilot, that is a good question because in 1968, the NRA was focused on hunting and conservation and were barely involved in the political discussion regarding GCA.

 

[Coop45]

Things are better today. The internet makes for much better communications and in 1968 the MSM was much more trusted than they are today. Other than that, I was on the walking tour of I Corps with a bunch of other Marines and never heard a thing about it. It was shocking to have to sign for 22 ammo when I got home.

 

[NaturalDefensiveRights]

I wasn't alive then. I was born a slave. But if you can be denied from owning a firearm when you're no longer serving a sentence or have never been adjudicated as mentally defective, it isn't a right, it's a privilege. <- You are here.

Of course, your right is denied by NICS in other ways, all the time, even if you're the most law abiding citizen ever.

 

[Ken70]

'68, it was like the world was going to end. It was just insane, Tet offensive, Russians invade Czecho, student riots all over the world, Police riot in Chicago during the Dems convention, RFK and MLK, I learn to drive...In Europe there still are groups of people that are described as "68ers".

 

[JohnBT]

The mood in '68? I was a college freshman and my parents lived 15 miles north of the D.C. line. Most people were more worried about the riots and the arson possibly spreading than anything to do with guns.

These are a few of the fires in NE D.C. one day after MLK was murdered. Google '68 riots to see if your town was smoking.



www.propublica.org/article/living-apart-how-the-government-betrayed-a-landmark-civil-rights-law

Edited to add: People knew that the Detroit riots of '67 had burned 2000 buildings and killed more than 40 people, so the fear of it spreading was real.

 

[JohnBT]

"In Europe there still are groups of people that are described as "68ers""

Really? I'm a Class of '68er, too. What a heck of a year.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I've seen references to the GCA of '68 that lead me to believe that it included a provision where you had to register ammunition purchases.

Yes, but only handgun ammo. I distinctly remember filling out the same form as buying a gun to get .22's

Maybe, I really don't remember. When I was 17-18 (1967-68) I remember buying two boxes of 22 short ammo for $1.00 at the auto parts store, and taking my dad's 1890 Winchester out into the prairie to plink. Did it several times.

Guilty pleasure too. Dad wouldn't have approved of "wasting" a dollar's worth of ammo on recreational shooting.

 

[JRH6856]

The GCA68 restriction is on handgun only ammo to minors and ISTR for a time, you had to fill out a form stating you were not a minor and that later changed to just presenting valid proof of age such as a DL.

 

[Kansan]

This is a great thread, I've tried to get my dad talking about that year. I was born 10 years later but kind of grew up with the impression that the world was full of hippies in '68. My dad corrected my version of events by saying that most people were civilized, church-going, normal people.

You guys are right about the internet. Whereas some of you came back from Vietnam to find this out, I get to read about it on the internet here in Afghanistan & am even able to email my congressmen from here. Of course, I can't participate in the panic buying (which is probably just as well) & I may come back home to some new draconian laws, but at least I was able to tell my congressmen what I thought about it before the fact.

Keep the stories from 68 coming!

 

[J-Bar]

Kansas City established a curfew under martial law when MLK was assassinated. My girlfriend of the moment was frightened and invited me to spend the night with her.

We found ways to comfort each other.

 

[aarondhgraham]

I remember the 1960's.

In 1964 I was 13 years old,,,
I sent a postal money order to Aldens catalog sales,,,
About two weeks later our postman left my K-98 8mm German Mauser on our front porch.

In 1966 I was 15 years old,,,
I drove my 80cc motorcycle to the TG&Y store,,,
When I got there I went inside and purchased a brand new AR-15.

I strapped the box to my motorcycle rack and drove home.

In 1969 I was a high school graduate,,,
I went to that same TG&Y store to buy some .22 LR,,,
I had to show identification and sign their "book" because it could be used in a handgun.

Times changed rather quickly.

Aarond

.

 

[Alaska444]

In 1966, my folks had to fly to Anchorage with my older brother who almost died. They were there for several weeks. My other brother told me to go down and buy some .38 Special bullets. At 8 years old, I went in and bought a box of hand gun ammo no questions asked in Nome Alaska.

The current generation has no CLUE what sort of freedoms we had that they don't any longer. That is just one of many examples. That is part of the problem, they don't know what we have already lost so that they are willing to let go of what little we have left. I truly miss the old days.

 

[JRH6856]

Unfortunately, it you describe the way things were and list the freedoms we have lost, many of them just see it as a record of progress.

 

[sgtstryker]

I was 13 in 1968, remember watching the war on the news every night. The GCA of 68 was just a news story, like it was the right thing to do, uh huh. And I remember signing for handgun ammo, but most folks would just say" it's for your rifle, ain't it "? But some would make you sign a log book with date and amount you bought. Sure wasn't the good ole days.