There was a time when you didn’t need to have a federal gun license to buy firearms. It’s true, there was in fact a time when you didn’t need a federal gun license to purchase any type of firearms. Up until 1934, almost anyone in the United States was allowed to purchase any type of firearm, including machine guns, short barrel rifles (SBR), short barreled shotguns (SBS), noise suppressors, and destructive devices (DD). And then right around the time that Prohibition ended, the national firearms act was enacted. What this did was to collect a mandatory excise tax on the transfer of all title to weapons. It also required that these same weapons be registered.



The fact that this all occurred around the time of Prohibition indicates that these laws were enacted in order to combat organized crime. After all Prohibition didn’t actually stop the flow of alcohol, it just put the legitimate, legal alcohol distributors out of business and transferred the business to organized crime.



The National Firearms Act requires that any transfer of firearms across state lines gets reported to the Department of Justice. Not only do you have to report the transportation of weapons, you’re charged a transfer tax to do so. Some may argue, and rightfully so, that like a lot of laws that are designed to regulate, this one falls short of it’s original goal of hampering organized crime, and adds undue restrictions, costs, and difficulties to lawful American citizens.



Fast-forward to the gun control act of 1968. This new omnibus act attempts to regulate firearms owners and any interstate commerce involving firearms. It does this by restricting the transfer of firearms to licensed manufacturer’s dealers and importers. Up until 1968, there was no federal gun license required per se. But this changed with the introduction of the federal firearms license or FFL in the Gun Control Act of 1968. Now there is a clear and defined set of rules and requirements that must be followed in order for a law abiding citizen to do deal in firearms or to purchase certain firearms that have been included on a list of weapons categorized by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives.

The gun control act of 1968 — chapter 44 title 18, was one of the most powerful and far-reaching federal laws ever enacted in regards to firearms. Both firearms owners and the firearms industry itself are tightly regulated under these laws. Even so, the main focus of these laws is the regulation of interstate commerce in firearms. The basic way that it does this is by prohibiting the interstate transfer of firearms, except by licensed dealers, importers, and manufacturers. And this license is known as the Federal Firearms License.

The first section of the act deals with prohibited persons. Basically anyone that is or has been in jail for a specific amount of time, a fugitive from justice, an illegal alien, under the influence of drugs, dishonorably discharged, anyone that has renounced their citizenship, convicted of domestic violence, a restraining order.

An interesting point of note is that persons under the age of 18 are prohibited from possessing handguns or handgun ammunition. There are exceptions to these rules though — if a handgun is used for employment education target practice or a handgun that is possessed while defending the home of the juvenile or a home in which they are an invited guest.

Additionally, anyone under indictment for any crime that can be punished by jail time of over one year cannot receive a firearm. They may, however, continued to legally and lawfully possess any firearms that they obtained before their indictment.

Like most laws, there is a fair amount of ongoing controversy concerning them. Luckily there are a few organizations that work to keep the federal regulators from unnecessarily restricting the rights of Americans to own firearms. One of the most vocal supporters of gun rights is the National Rifle Association, commonly known as the NRA. If you’re concerned with your rights as an American to own and possess firearms, it is highly recommended that you consider joining the National Rifle Association. And remember, the sooner you apply for your FFL license, the better off you’ll be. You may not be able to do it if you wait too long.

To Paraphrase Sec 101 of title I: State Firearms Control Assistance,  it says that the stated purpose of this act is to help law enforcement officials in their fight against crime and violence, and not to put any restrictions or burdens on the average American with respect to their acquisition, possession, or use of guns and firearms when used for the purpose of hunting, trapshooting, target shooting, personal protection, or any other lawful activity.

It further states that it’s also not intended to discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.  If you’re familiar with federal firearms laws you may disagree with the statements. Federal firearms license laws have evolved over time to become what they are today: a very complex set of rules and regulations that don’t seem to follow any particular rhyme or reason.

The last part of this section also states that these laws are not designed to provide for the imposition by federal regulations of any procedures or requirements other than those reasonably necessary to implement and effectuate the provisions of this title.

While this all seems well and good, at least on paper, the reality is that the laws are often arcane and complex. The “average American”would have a difficult time reading through the rules of the gun-control act of 1968 and come away with  a functional and working understanding of these laws. In fact, there is a strong possibility that even the architects of these laws would have a difficult time legally abiding by these laws.

Over the years these laws have changed, and you should expect that in the coming years these laws will continue to change.  Hopefully though, not to the point of excessive and burdensome regulation.  Unfortunately it seems that with the change of each presidential administration comes a new set of goals which often lead to more restrictive laws and regulations. The best thing that you can do is to stay informed and become involved with the political process, at least when new laws or regulations are being introduced that involve firearms.