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Abstract
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Before delving into the issue of the constitutionality of re- strictions on assault weapons, an overview of the state of gun laws in America is warranted. Assault weapons are generally permitted in the United States today.1 They were banned under federal law between 1994 and 2004, but Congress allowed that ban to lapse.2 Now, they are prohibited in several states and are allowed in the others.3
Under current federal law, there are no limits on how many guns one can purchase.4 A person can purchase 50, 100, or even 1,000 guns at one time.5 There are also no limits on how many guns an individual can possess--theoretically, a person can possess all the guns that could fit into his or her home. Along with the lack of ownership limits under federal law, there are hundreds of models of conventional semiautomatic handguns, hunting rifles, and shotguns that are available under state laws.6 The result is that in every state, Americans can buy and possess thousands of semiautomatic handguns, rifles, and shotguns. To provide some additional context, it is important to note that Congress has given the gun industry special protections under federal law that no other product or industry has been provided. For example, guns are exempt from the Consumer Product Safety Act.7 So even if there are safety devices that would save the lives of children and others and are completely feasible--and would not affect the functionality of the gun in any way--the law does not give the federal government the authority to require gun manufacturers to make guns with these safety devices.8 But with any other product, the government would require that such safety devices be put in.9 This posture is thanks to the National Rifle Association's influence on Congress when the Consumer Product Safety Act was enacted.10
The gun industry also has special protection from civil liability. Traditionally, a company that negligently provides a product to a criminal can be held civilly liable.11 But some courts have held that when a licensed gun dealer negligently supplies guns to criminals, the dealer may not be held liable.12
Gun rights activists argue that getting more guns in people's hands leads to less crime.13 If this were true, the United States would be a perfect model for it, given that Americans possess such a vast number of guns.14 Yet the facts prove just the opposite. The gun homicide rate in the United States is twenty-five times higher than in other high-income nations,15 and Americans are over fifty times more likely to die from a gun than those in the United Kingdom.16
The crime rate in the United States is actually comparable to, and in some cases lower than, the rate in other high-income nations.17 Crime, as Professors Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins found years ago, is not the problem behind gun deaths in America.18 Rather, the problem is that--because of the lax gun laws summarized above--criminals have easy ac- cess to guns.19 One cause of this ease of access is that federal law allows unlicensed people to sell guns without background...
Language: en |