what were the best and worst events for the 2A?

[paintballdude902]

whats your opinion? i think the worst would be the 1986 closing of the machine gun registry. best would probably be the day the supreme court ruled on Heller VS DC

 

[Tommygunn]

The worst was the National Firearms Act of 1934; there'd be no closing of the registry in 1986 had it not been for the 1934 law in the first place.
I suppose Heller is one of the best.

 

[psyopspec]

Worst: NFA 1934.
Best: Ratification of 2A.

 

[Midwest]

Don't overlook the state laws over the National laws. I'm sure the gun enthusiasts in New Jersey could consider the 1966 Sills act mandating a permit system in order to buy a firearm worse than the 1934 GCA.

Those in NY might consider the 1911 Sullivan Act the worst.

Perhaps the gun enthusiasts in Illinois would consider their 1968 FOID (mandating a permit in order to buy and possess a firearms) the worst ever.

I see good arguments for the 1934 GCA being the worse.

I'll go out on the limb and say the 1968 GCA was the worse. No more mail order sales of pistols and rifles. Anything over 50 cal was classified under NFA (unless it had a sporting purpose like shotguns). Importation of firearms was restricted unless they met some kind of arbitrary standard. Interstate sales of firearms were illegal unless one had a FFL, or it was a long gun in a contiguous state. Ammo sales were restricted. 1968 GCA was pretty bad in my opinion.

Edit:Addition

Also positive ID was now required for all sales for the 1968 Gun Control Act with an additional age restriction or 21 years old for handguns and 18 years old for long guns. Because of the importation restrictions, surplus firearms that were formerly widely available was now curtailed.



The Best event for 2A:
The rise of 'shall issue' conceal carry laws across the United States.

 

[benEzra]

From a pragmatic standpoint, the passage of the 1994 Feinstein non-ban was the watershed moment of pro-RKBA activism. It is my opinion that the majority of our progress since 1994 can be traced to the backlash against that ridiculous and much-hated law. It certainly shook me out of my apathy, and it kicked off the wave of CCW licensure reform that swept the nation in the '90s to the present. The passage of that law also destroyed the gun-control lobby as an effective force.

 

[alsaqr]

The NFA act of 1934 was passed in the depths of the great depression. Folks were more concerned with getting food than restrictions on machine guns. The gun control act of 1968 was passed during the Viet Nam war when the country was deeply divided. There was little news about the proposed gun control act. The NRA got into the game late.

i got involved in gun rights after the GCA 1968 passed. Finally got around to reading the new law and discovered gunowners had been cheated. Very early i predicted that some future president would cite the "sporting pruposes" clause and restrict long guns. That happened in 1984, 1986, 1989 and again in 1997.