One Step Froward, Then Two Steps Backward: Remembering the Gun Control Act of 1968
On this date 58 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson’s GUN CONTROL ACT OF 1968 was signed and became the law of the land. It’s worth remembering on this anniversary — especially since an epidemic of domestic violence and misuse of firearms and mass shootings have become so frequent as federal laws have since lapsed and attempts to control the proliferation of deadly firearms have become a thing of the past.
Sadly, gun laws have not progressed. They have regressed.
As many know, I greatly admire LBJ and view his presidency and domestic agenda as one of the three most progressive periods in American history. Among all the progressive initiatives by LBJ (Civil Rights, Medicare, War on Poverty, etc.), his advocacy of gun control is sadly forgotten. It deserves remembrance. And a reawakening.
Incredibly, it took nearly FIVE YEARS to pass this important bill. After it was learned that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald has bought a scoped rifle for $19.95 in a mail-order from a sporting goods store to murder JFK, the Johnson Administration sought new laws to stop dangerous people from getting firearms. Conservatives in both parties opposed the early attempts to pass gun laws. No surprise — no matter when or what party, conservatives always seem to be on the WRONG side of history. And we all suffer and pay the price. Two men of great vision paid the ultimate price.
When the assassinations of MLK and RFK happened in 1968, those shocking tragedies put gun control back on the domestic agenda. But oddly enough, it was something else that became the tipping point. More than anything else, *racially-motivated fears* gave us this new law and sparked these landmark national gun restrictions. White fears about the ongoing “race riots” in many U.S. cities and panic that disorder would become even more violent if minorities had easy access to guns triggered action. So, the conservative elders in both parties began acknowledging something had to be done. Yeah, that’s what it took to finally change minds — not a dead president murdered on a Dallas street, nor a political candidate gunned down inside an LA kitchen, nor a peaceful preacher covered in blood on a Memphis motel balcony. It was the Blacks rioting in Watts and Newark and Detroit. Time to do something!
Even with overwhelming public support, incredibly, there were still holdouts — far Right wingers in the South (Wallace Democrats) and the holdover Goldwater Republicans remained opposed. Nonetheless, the Gun Control Act passed the House 305-118. It passed the Senate 70-17. It became law when LBJ signed it on Oct. 22, 1968. Back then, even the NRA supported the law and put out a public statement. I know — shocker.
It’s astonishing that nearly six decades have passed since this date, and we’ve regressed into a sad and broken nation that tolerates — and even accepts — gun violence as something that’s normal. School shootings aren’t shocking anymore. They’re expected. A hardline conservative activist even argued that some measure of gun deaths were an acceptable price to pay, before being murdered in public in broad daylight by a disturbed individual armed with a rifle.
At least we tried to take one step forward on this date, before taking two steps backward.
