In the 1960s, more violence brought a call for more federal gun laws.
“So the 60s is a time of incredible turmoil in America. You have assassinations.” … “We have the assassination of President Kennedy, Senator Bobby Kennedy when he’s running for President…of Martin Luther King. All of this contributes to a greater sense of desire for control of firearms.”
Assassinations and riots in major American cities led some people to think that the best way to stop the violence was to put a limit on guns.
“A modern gun control movement developed that, in many cases, is quite frankly a prohibition movement. Their ultimate goal is severe restrictions by the Federal government on firearms ownership.” …
But stronger federal gun control laws brought stronger resistance to gun laws.
“This idea of banning weapons has a kind of simple model of, you know, take the guns away and the problem will go away. And that was met on the other side with this kind of great bumpers sticker, ‘Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.'”
— Annenberg Constitution Project, Second Amendment: D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago
