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Armed Career Criminal Act (18 U.S.C. 924(e)): An Overview

Description: This report briefly explores the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), which requires imposition of a minimum 15-year term of imprisonment for recidivists convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Section 924(e) applies only to those defendants who have three prior state or federal convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses. The report includes descriptions of constitutional challenges to the application of section 924(e), which have been… more
Date: October 13, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Arming Teachers as a Response to School Shootings

Description: This report discusses the proposal of arming teachers in public schools that was made by President Trump in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida and arguments for and against the proposal.
Date: March 13, 2018
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Assault Weapons Ban: Review of Federal Laws Controlling Possessions of Certain Firearms

Description: This report reviews the 1994 assault weapons ban, which is effective for ten years on 19 types of semiautomatic assault weapons. The Act builds upon a 60-year history of federal regulation of firearms. The report also summarizes the pre-1994 federal gun control laws, analyzes the major cases relating to constitutional and statutory challenges to these laws, and reviews judicial and legislative developments since enactment of the ban.
Date: December 1, 1995
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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ATF's Ability to Regulate "Bump Stocks"

Description: This report discusses whether ATF has the right to regulate "bump stocks" for rifles which allow rifles to mimic the actions of an automatic weapon and recent proposed regulatory action by ATF.
Date: March 22, 2018
Creator: Peck, Sarah Herman
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Brady Handgun Control Act: Constitutional Issues

Description: The Brady Handgun Control Act established a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, during which local law enforcement can make reasonable efforts to conduct background checks in available records and block and sales to convicted felons and other disqualified persons. This report reviews the background of federal gun control legislation, analyzes the conflict in the courts over the constitutionality under the Tenth Amendment of the duties placed on local law enforcement, and considers th… more
Date: October 25, 1995
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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D.C. Gun Laws and Proposed Amendments

Description: In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which declared three firearms provisions of the D.C. Code unconstitutional, a flurry of legislation was introduced both in Congress and in the District of Columbia Council. This report provides an analysis of the District's firearms laws and congressional proposals.
Date: June 28, 2010
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Charleston, SC, Mass Shooter Might Have Been Denied a Handgun If Not for Possible Recordkeeping Oversights

Description: This report briefly discusses the announcement by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey that the alleged assailant in the Charleston, SC, mass murder/shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church might have been prevented from acquiring a handgun if not for possible recordkeeping oversights on the part of the FBI and Columbia, SC, city police and county sheriff's departments.
Date: July 13, 2015
Creator: Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Civilian Marksmanship Program

Description: This report covers the Civilian Marksmanship Program and its relationship with Congress. It also covers issues and controversial nature of the government initiated program.
Date: July 18, 1997
Creator: Hawthorne, Jeri & Burrelli, David F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Congressional Authority to Regulate Firearms: A Legal Overview

Description: Courts have been confronted with the question of whether federal laws can be applied to intrastate possession and intrastate transfers of firearms, or whether such application exceeds the authority of Congress. This report explores these cases and how courts have analyzed these as-applied challenges under the Supreme Court's Commerce Clause jurisprudence primarily set forth in United States v. Lopez.
Date: April 5, 2013
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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DC Gun Laws and Proposed Amendments

Description: In the 112th Congress, Representative Mike Ross introduced H.R. 645, "To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia." This measure is identical to H.R. 5162 from the previous Congress. This report provides an analysis of the District's firearms laws and congressional proposals.
Date: April 26, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Crime Control Issues in the 111th Congress

Description: This report aggregates various issues surrounding federal crime control into five broad themes: violent crime control, combating fraud and theft, drug control, sentencing reform, and state and local justice assistance. Within these themes, the report examines more specific issues that confronted the 111th Congress. Issues discussed under the umbrella of violent crime control include hate crimes, gangs, and gun control. Issues related to the federal government's efforts to combat fraud and theft… more
Date: January 25, 2011
Creator: Finklea, Kristin M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Gun Control Laws: The Second Amendment and Other Constitutional Issues

Description: This report examines the historical, legal, and constitutional arguments for and against an individual right to bear firearms under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Those who favor federal gun control laws tend to assert that the Second Amendment has been correctly interpreted by the courts to confer only a collective right, which may be exercised through state militias. Those who oppose gun control laws tend to assert that the Second Amendment should be interpreted to grant an individ… more
Date: February 1, 1995
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Firearms at Army Corps Water Resource Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses issues for Congress regarding public safety and infrastructure security at water resource projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Proposed legislation would bar the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing regulations that prohibit individuals from possessing firearms (including assembled or functional firearms) at Corps projects and instead require that firearms possession comply with state law.
Date: January 27, 2015
Creator: Carter, Nicole T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Firearms at Army Corps Water Resources Projects: Proposed Legislation and Issues for Congress

Description: This rport discusses issues for Congress regarding public safety and infrastructure security at water resource projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Proposed legislation would bar the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing regulations that prohibit individuals from possessing firearms (including assembled or functional firearms) at Corps projects and instead require that firearms possession comply with state law.
Date: July 12, 2012
Creator: Carter, Nicole T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Firearms Prohibitions and Domestic Violence Convictions: The Lautenberg Amendment

Description: This report provides an overview of the provisions of the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968, which establishes a scheme prohibiting the possession of firearms by individuals who have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
Date: October 1, 2001
Creator: Halstead, T. J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Gun Control

Description: This report provides basic firearms-related issues and a summary of legislative action.
Date: August 11, 1982
Creator: Hogan, Harry L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Gun Control: "Bump-Fire" Stocks

Description: This report discusses "bump-fire" stocks for guns which allow less experienced users to shoot semiautomatic rifles more rapidly. "Bump-stocks" that contain a coiled spring are considered firearms by the ATF but other varieties of modified stocks that do not contain coiled springs are not classified as firearms and as such are unregulated. The shooter in the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas shooting used semiautomatic rifles with 'bump-stocks" which has led to renewed interest in their regulation in Co… more
Date: October 10, 2017
Creator: Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Gun Control: Federal Law and Legislative Action in the 114th Congress

Description: This report provides background on the two major federal gun control statutory frameworks: the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), as amended, and the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), as amended. It then provides analysis of the Senate amendments offered in the 114th Congress that would have addressed issues regarding expanding federal background check requirements to private non-licensed gun sellers in public places, allowing the Attorney General power to stop the sale of firearms or explosives… more
Date: April 19, 2017
Creator: Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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