The Limits of the Criminal Sanction

Gun regulation has been a constant component of American law, running from the first settlements in the Chesapeake. Legislatures grappled to reconcile rights and defensive needs against their fear of an unhindered access to firearms. The state's goal of arming some citizens for defense clashed with its effort to prevent the dangerous classes from possessing firearms. Complicating the whole process was a surprising public indifference to firearms prior to the twentieth century. For much of American history, few people contested the state's right to control the possession and use of firearms. In this context, the Second Amendment appeared entirely irrelevant to gun regulation. Until the middle of the twentieth century, American gun laws had a coherent and clear goal of limiting access to firearms to reliable citizens. But since World War II, efforts at gun regulation have usually been prevented by the polarizing enthusiasm for guns among a large segment of the population.

Firearms Regulation: A Historical Overview

This article lists articles about the Second Amendment or gun control that have been published in law reviews.

Comprehensive bibliography of the Second Amendment in law reviews

Attitudes toward gun control laws: Exploring relationships in recently gathered data

The commission’s arguments for gun control, the hardest to demolish is that the many lethal crimes of passion could be lessened by reduced availability of handguns. Psychology’s special claim to being able to document a gun control stand rests on experimental studies of angry or retaliatory aggression. The frustrated subjects who displayed what has become known as the “weapons effect” administered significantly more shocks than other frustrated subjects to the accomplice who had been identified as the owner of guns. The inference—at least for persons who are not desensitized gun aficionados—is that the built-in lethality of weapons in real life can have a sobering effect, whereas pictures permit displays of carefree rambunctiousness. A more general issue is whether laboratory studies of aggression have external validity. Guns play a role through their fateful availability for use where their bearers’ or owners’ destructive urges or resolves culminate.

Research and Policy: The Case of Gun Control

Associate Dean and Professor, Stetson University College of Law Four graduates of Stetson University College of Law—Robert Butterfield, Kevin Fantauzzo, David Heil, and Matthew King—aided in the preparation of this article At the editorial conference for the symposium, a discussion group including David Caplan, Susan Wimmershoff-Caplan, Penny Crook, Margaret Howard, James Jacobs, Don Kates, Gary Kleck, Daniel Polsby, and Robert Shalhope made helpful suggestions Don Kates' editorial assistance was invaluable: without his insight and vast knowledge of the area, I would not have been able to write this article Of course, none of these persons bears any responsibility for the work's defects 1 Pub L No 90-618, 82 Stat 1213 (codified as amended at 18 USC §§ 921-928 (1982); 18 USC app §§ 1201-1203 (1982); 26 USC §§ 5801-5872 (1982)) Many of these same provisions were enacted as part of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Pub L No 90-351, 82 Stat 197 (codified as amended in scattered sections of titles 5, 18, 42, and 47 of the US Code (1982)) 2 United States v Biswell, 406 US 311 (1972); United States v Bass, 404 US 336 (1971); United States v Freed, 401 US 601 (1971) 3 United States v Biswell, 406 US 311, 313-17 (1972) [Copyright © 1986 Law and Contemporary Problems Originally published as 49 LAW & CONTEMP PROBS 163-198 (1986) For educational use only The printed edition remains canonical For citational use please obtain a back issue from William S Hein & Co, 1285 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14209; 716-882-2600 or 800-828-7571]

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Robert Batey

Papers

Strict Construction of Firearms Offenses: The Supreme Court and the Gun Control Act of 1968