Handgun Prohibition In The 1920's

The 1920’s, this is the period in American history where the movement to ban handguns in the Northeast, led by the conservative business establishment began. In the south, the biggest fear was keeping firearms out of the hands of the free blacks or slaves before the Civil War. This is also the time period when the NRA began flexing their muscles and putting their stamp on the political scene. Their organization played an instrumental role in defeating a national proposal on handgun prohibition. The NRA did this by educating and urging their membership to contact their legislators concerning the proposed handgun prohibition through their magazine called the The American Rifleman. Up to that political defeat, the NRA had only been political in …show more content…
Basically the NFA would impose a tax in the amount of $200 if one possessed a machine gun and a short-barreled shotgun. Furthermore, a $5 tax would be imposed if one possessed a handgun. This bill, with the way it read, including a tax on handguns did not set well with the NRA. So again, they flexed their muscles and had handguns removed. So in 1934, the NFA became law. Also in the 1930’s, another significant bill was proposed, but defeated by the strong backbone of the NRA. This bill was introduced as a national gun registration by then Attorney General Cummings, under then re-elected President Roosevelt, in 1936. As author Kopel quotes Cummings as saying “Show me the man who does not want his gun registered, and I will show you a man who should not have a gun” (1533). From this defeat, the NRA supported a new bill called the Federal Firearms Act of 1938 (FFA). This bill requires licensed dealers to keep records of all firearm sales, and prohibits the shipment of guns in interstate commerce to any individual who is prohibited from owning a firearm, or to one that has been indicted or convicted of a …show more content…
President Reagan survived but Press Secretary James Brady become permanently disabled. Upon President Reagans release from the hospital, he is quoted as saying, “My concern about gun control is that it’s taking our eyes off what might the real answers to crime; it’s diverting our attention. There are, today, more that 20,000 gun-control laws in effect-federal, state and local-in the United States. Indeed, some of the stiffest gun-control laws in the nation are right here in the district and they didn’t seem to prevent a fellow, a few weeks ago, form carrying one down by the Hilton Hotel” (Kopel 1568). This also prompted the first sitting President to address an NRA Annual Meeting in