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Definition: gun control from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1964) : regulation of the selling, owning, and use of guns

gun control

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. The availability of guns is controlled by nations and localities throughout the world. In the United States the “right of the people to keep and bear arms” is guaranteed by the Constitution, but has been variously interpreted through the years. From the late 1930s federal judicial and law enforcement officials generally held that the right exists mainly in the context of the maintenance of a state militia, but in 2002 the Justice Dept., under Attorney General John Ashcroft , indicated that it interpreted the amendment as more broadly supporting the rights of individuals to possess and bear firearms. Such an interpretation was upheld by 2008 and 2010 Supreme Court decisions that nonetheless did not challenge the government's right to place some limitations on the ownership and possession of firearms. Some U.S. states and localities have enacted strict licensing and other control measures, and federal legislation (1968) …
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Full text Article Gun control and March for Our Lives: 4 essential reads (Mar. 2018)

From The Conversation: An Independent Source of Analysis from Academic Researchers
Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of stories from The Conversation’s archive. Students from across the country will march in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Similar marches will take place elsewhere in the U.S. Organized by survivors of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, the protesters…
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Full text Article Why is the NRA boycott working so quickly? (Mar. 2018)

From The Conversation: An Independent Source of Analysis from Academic Researchers
Delta found itself in a tricky situation after it said it would stop giving discounts to NRA members.
The boycott of the National Rifle Association following its response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, came fast and furious. Car rental companies, airlines, trucking businesses, tech firms, insurers and a bank that issued an NRA-branded credit card all severed their relationships with…
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Full text Article Gun Control

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
Gun control activists Jim and Sarah Brady (right)...
Passions run deep on the issue of gun control, indicating highly distinct and conflicting attitudes toward firearms in American culture. The term “gun control” refers to any government policy limiting the ownership and use of firearms. Gun control policies can restrict the types of weapons and…
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Full text Article Why is there so little research on guns in the US? 6 questions answered (Mar. 2018)

From The Conversation: An Independent Source of Analysis from Academic Researchers
Congresspeople call for action on gun safety legislation on Oct. 4 after the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
On Valentine’s Day, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He killed 17 students and teachers and injured at least a dozen others. The Parkland shooting is currently the ninth deadliest single-day mass shooting on U.S. soil. Like other…
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Full text Article Gun Control Act of 1968

From The Gun Debate: An Encyclopedia of Gun Control & Gun Rights
The Gun Control Act of 1968 was the first major piece of gun control legislation to be enacted since the Federal Firearms Act of 1938. The act was contained in two statutes: Titles IV and VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (82 Stat. 225, 236), and the Gun Control Act (82 Stat. …
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Full text Article Gun Control

From World of Criminal Justice, Gale
Gun lobbyists Jim Winchester (left) and David...
The gun control debate involves interpretation of the Second Amendment which provides “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.” This relatively simple statement in the Bill of Rights generated almost no public debate for almost two centuries. A number of historical developments not…
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Full text Article Gun Control

From World of Sociology, Gale
James Brady, one-time press secretary to former...
Gun control is one of the most divisive issues in American politics and is consistently an issue during presidential elections. This debate hinges on interpretation of the Second Amendment: “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and…
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Full text Article Gun Control Policy

From The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice
This article examines some of the controversy surrounding gun control policy, the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, and the history of gun control policy initiatives. crime statistics criminology firearms gun control policy victim violent crime There are many controversial issues…
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Full text Article GUNS AND GUN CONTROL

From The Reader's Companion to American History
The right to keep and bear arms originated in the common law right of self-defense. As Colin Greenwood has written, “The Common Law right to keep arms and the tradition of owning arms for protection, was built up during a period when there was no effective police, when the individual was compelled…
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Full text Article Brady Gun Control Law

From World of Criminal Justice, Gale
James Brady (right) with wife Sarah (The Bettmann...
Five and a half months before the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley, Jr. purchased two .22 caliber handguns in Rocky’s Pawn Shop in Dallas, Texas. One of these guns was used in the shooting. On March 30, 1981, President Reagan and his press secretary left a building in…
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