Other short titles | State Firearms Control Assistance Act |
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Long title | An Act to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for better control of the interstate traffic in firearms. |
Acronyms (colloquial) | GCA, GCA68 |
Enacted by | the 90th United States Congress |
Effective | October 22, 1968 |
Citations | |
Public law | 90-618 |
Statutes at Large | 82 Stat. 1213-2 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure |
U.S.C. sections amended | 18 U.S.C. ch. 44 § 921 |
Legislative history | |
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Major amendments | |
United States Supreme Court cases | |
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The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA or GCA68) is a U.S. federal law that regulates the firearms industry and firearms ownership. Due to constitutional limitations, the Act is primarily based on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except by manufacturers, dealers and importers licensed under a scheme set up under the Act.
The GCA was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 22, 1968, and is Title I of the U.S. federal firearms laws. The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) is Title II. Both GCA and NFA are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
18 USC chapter 44 was first enacted by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. GCA repealed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, though many of its provisions were reenacted as part of the GCA, which revised the FFA and its predecessor, the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).[1]