The War on Gun Dealers

Ammoland ^ | 16 January, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In 1968 Congress passed the infamous Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968.  The act banned the sale of guns through the mail except to federally licensed dealers.  One purpose of the act was to weaken and defund the National Rifle Association.  A great deal of advertisement funding for the NRA magazine, The American Rifleman, came from ads for the mail order of firearms.

The mail order of pistols had been regulated since 1927.  GCA 1968 banned mail order of rifles and shotguns, guns that were used in only a small percentage of crimes, and created a whole new class of arms, “destructive devices”.  Up until 1968, you could order anti-aircraft and anti-tank cannon and ammunition through the mail.  Crimes committed with them were nil.

The original act was rejected by Congress in 1966, and by committees in the House and Senate in 1968.  In spite of the resistance, President Johnson and rising power of the media cartel rammed the act through on the heals of the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  Even though the NRA had no lobbying arm at the time, the act was not popular in Congress.  Only arm twisting by Lyndon Johnson pushed it into law.  The Congress refused to give Johnson what he wanted most – national gun registration of all guns and gun owners.

If you want to eliminate guns from society, the strategy of licensing gun sellers is an old and obvious one.  In 1607, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued a decree that all guns produced had to be approved of by the government.   Gradually gun orders were decreased.  Eventually, no new guns were produced.

[marktwain]

President Clinton put over 200,000 small time gun dealers out of business. Obama says he wants them to be licensed, but Clinton's regulations make that impractical.

It is a squeeze play to make more criminals out of gun owners.

[Carthego delenda est]

“It is a squeeze play to make more criminals out of gun owners.”

The antigun plans of the socialist libtards move forward. SSDD

[deoetdoctrinae]

FREE REPUBLIC ISN'T GOING "BACK TO BASICS".
WE NEVER LEFT THEM.

Click the Pic

Support Free Republic

[Smokin' Joe]

I think they are just frosted that with fewer licensed dealers, above the board legal gun sales are at an all time high. FUBO, at its finest.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

*** anti-aircraft and anti-tank cannon and ammunition through the mail. Crimes committed with them were nil.***

Why these were banned...Back in the early 1960s someone ordered an anti-tank rifle through the mail, to be shipped to a PO box number. The seller got suspicious and told the Feds.

The Feds told him to send the items to the PO box listed and they would arrest the buyers when they picked up the rifle.
When the Post office got the item in, they notified the Feds and the purchasers their item was in.
The feds staked out the post office but no one showed up to pick up the item, so that evening the Feds went home.

That night, the purchasers broke into the Post office and stole the gun, took it to a local bank and using it, blew open the safe.

The news papers went wild, blaming the SELLER, calling for a ban on the mail order of guns and especially anti-tank guns.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***The mail order of pistols had been regulated since 1927. ***

I ordered a pistol through the mails back in early 1968. It could not be sent to me by mail, but could be shipped by rail which it was. The freight cost was as much as the pistol cost!

Now what was interesting..The pistol was shipped in a box with a big red tape yelling FIREARMS on it. I have heard it from others that freight shipment of guns meant many ordered guns never reached their destinations as some of the conductors would sort through the packages, and toss all those with the red tape yelling FIREARMS to waiting cars at certain crossroads.

That was my ONLY experience with buying a gun through the mails.

[MacNaughton]

I can barely remember the ads in American Rifleman from the mid-1960s. I do seem to recall seeing bazookas listed. First time I have heard this story. It reminded me of something from my mis-spent youth - Clint Eastwood's 1974 film, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot".

[faithhopecharity]

And the volume of off-the-books private transactions shoots up astronomically

[marktwain]

I recall the Clint Eastwood movie, but I do not recall the burglary. It had to be before 1968. Be nice to find a reference.

I always figured that the feds were spooked by all demonstrations against Vietnam and the home-grown communists.

[Beagle8U]

GOA endorsed Ted Cruz for a reason.

[MacNaughton]

Thnaks for this very informative post. It really put into focus the big picture of a lot of pieces I barely remembered. The young folks in this country have no clue as to the history of gun control laws.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***It had to be before 1968. Be nice to find a reference.***

Several of the gun magazines of 1968 mentioned it on their editorial pages.

[marktwain]

I found a Life editorial from January 13, 1967. It specifically mentioned anti-tank guns, but did not mention any used in crime.

Worth the effort for this find:

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2016/01/life-anti-second-amendment-editorial.html

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Here you go! Better details than what I remembered! The news media went ballistic over this!

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/832831_Man_Uses_20MM_Anti_Tank_Gun_To_Break_Into_NY_Bank_Vault.html

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-08-19/news/8502030703_1_westside-gang-gang-member-montreal-police/2

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1965/11/02/page/1/article/fbi-seizes-suspect-in-cannon-burglary

Scroll down to the robbery section on this one.
http://www.guns.com/2013/05/21/the-lahti-20mm-anti-tank-gun-or-just-the-finnish-boombeast/

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Ping to post #14.

[marktwain]

Good work. I wonder if it was the basis for the Clint Eastwood movie.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Yes, it was the basis for the movie.

[marktwain]

Fascinating. He was a Canadian career criminal at 22, when he stole the guns.

He stupidly talked to his uncle, which is how he got caught.

He ended up in Attica during the prison riots, and go out because of PTSD.

He committed suicide about a year later, at the age of 29.

A short, sad, life.