ARE AMERICA’S GUN LAWS TOO LAX?

The most recent of a spate of shootings in the United States took place in the small, southwestern town of Uvalde, Texas, where nineteen elementary school children and two teachers were senselessly murdered on May 24, 2022.  The gunman was a teenager who bought military grade firearms and as many as 350 rounds of ammunition without drawing even a look from authorities.  In addition to the murders at the school, the gunman shot his own grandmother.  Perhaps the U.S. Congress will finally take a serious look at the proliferation of assault weapons and also protective gear in the hands of the civilian population.  As the debate continues, presented here is a summary of what exists today in the way of Federal and State gun laws. 

A Glossary of Terms Regarding Gun Laws: 

Open Carry:  Permission to carry firearms openly where they can be observed.

Concealed Carry:  Permission to carry a firearm (handgun) concealed while in personal possession.

Assault weapon:  One that can fire a series of rounds with repeated pulls of the trigger and no manual reloading.

Automatic weapon:  One that can fire a series of rounds with one pull of the trigger and no manual reloading.

NFA weapon:  Weapons defined by the National Firearms Act to include certain explosive devices.

Peaceable Journey:  Permission to travel with firearms through a state under certain restrictions.  If the state does not enact peaceable journey rules, then federal rules generally apply.

Long guns:  Rifles, shotguns and other similar firearms over a specified barrel length.

Castle Doctrine Law:  Similar to “Stand your ground” laws where the usage of firearms or deadly force is permitted in protecting one’s home from unauthorized entry.

Magazine Capacity:  Laws or regulations restricting the size of magazines and the number of ammunition rounds they can hold at capacity.

Red Flag Law:  State laws that permit authorities under certain circumstances to ask the courts to temporarily block someone from owning or purchasing a firearm. 

A Look at Federal Gun Laws:   Federal law is centered around the regulation of automatic weapons used primarily by the military or law enforcement agencies and leaves most other regulations up to state law.  The federal government does not explicitly prohibit the private possession of machine guns or automatic weapons.  However, there are a host of regulations regarding sale or possession of automatic weapons as provided by the 1934 National Firearms Act, the 1968 Gun Control Act, and the 1986 Firearm’s Owners Protection Act.  The following summarizes the main portion of these regulations:

1.) Requires all machine guns, except antique firearms, not in the U.S. government’s possession to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF);

2.) Bars private individuals from transferring or acquiring machine guns except those lawfully possessed and registered before May 19, 1986;

3.) Requires anyone transferring or manufacturing machine guns to get prior ATF approval and register the firearms;

4.) With very limited exceptions, imposes a $200 excise tax whenever a machine gun is transferred (please note that the $200 excise tax dates back to 1934); 

5.) Bars interstate transport of machine guns without ATF approval;

6.) Imposes harsh penalties for machine gun violations, including imprisonment of up to ten years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both for possessing an unregistered machine gun.

A Comparison of State Gun Laws:  State gun laws vary from the very liberal (Idaho or Georgia) to the very restrictive (New York).  In Idaho there are no rules requiring registration, permit to purchase, or owner licensing of any firearm.  Open carry is permitted, and concealed carry requires a permit only in urban areas.  Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are not restricted, and Federal rules apply to NFA weapons and Peaceable Journey.  Idaho does not require background checks for firearms sales, and preempts local laws which would apply restrictions not required by state law.

In New York virtually every restriction found anywhere under the law applies to handguns, and most apply to long guns.  Open carry is prohibited to pistol owners who must have a concealed carry license, but is permitted for long guns while hunting in areas specified for hunting or on the holder’s own property.  Permits to purchase, registration, and owner licensing are not required for long guns, and as in nearly all states long guns may not be concealed.  Possession of assault weapons is prohibited.  The New York Castle Doctrine law applies to the usage of non-lethal force to protect the home from intruders.  State law does not preempt any locality from enacting even tougher regulations. 

Texas’s gun laws are similar to Idaho’s except that Texas permits open carry for private citizens if handguns are carried in holsters.  On college campuses may carry is permitted in parking facilities and open walkways.  There is a duty in Texas for someone in possession of a handgun to inform law enforcement. 

Summary:  Texas gun laws fall towards the liberal end of the spectrum with only a very few minor restrictions above the minimum.  Out of fifty only twenty-two require at least some form of background check for certain firearms, whereas twenty-eight, including Texas, have no background check whatsoever.  Only four states, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York do not preempt any local municipality from enacting tougher gun laws than those which apply to the entire state.  There are a myriad of minor differences or exceptions to standard state laws that exist in nearly every state.

Conclusion:   Texas state law would never have prevented the Uvalde, Texas, massacre, but the same could be said for many other states.  In Uvalde’s case, stringent background checks before the completion of all firearms sales would have been arguably the best chance to protect the students other than a nationwide ban on the sale of all assault weapons and materiel.  A Red Flag law would provide an outside chance a preventing a similar incident, but such laws require court action to enforce, which can take an extended amount of time. 

Sources:  Wikipedia