Gun Control

• Author: Richard Leiter
• Pages: 157-173

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The state laws controlling the purchase of firearms are varied and constantly changing. The laws reviewed here are current, but there is still a great amount of legislation pending before state governments designed primarily to make the legal purchase of guns more difficult. Each state has some form of restriction on the buying of guns, though rural states tend to be less restrictive in controlling guns than highly urban states due to the greater numbers of hunters and sportsmen in their populations. Nonetheless, in most states convicted felons and minors cannot purchase guns; in some, aliens and individuals with mental disabilities cannot. Machine guns, automatic weapons, sawed-off shotguns, and guns with silencers are banned in many.

One of the more controversial restrictions applied to the purchase of guns is a waiting period, in which a certain amount of time must pass between the time an individual purchases a gun and is able to take possession of the gun. With the rise in gun-related crimes, a number of states already have instituted waiting periods to discourage rash actions.

A recent controversial restriction on gun ownership surrounds possession of guns in schools. The controversy arose when the Supreme Court struck down, in 1995, the Federal Gun-Free School Zone Act as an unlawful federal interference with states’ abilities to govern themselves. Forty-nine states have legislation directly or indirectly affecting possession of guns in and around schools. Some of the states have enacted their legislation since the federal act was overturned, some have had such laws on their books for some time. In any case all states now specifically ban possession of firearms on school grounds.

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Table 10: Gun Control
State	Code Section	Illegal Arms	Waiting Period	Who May Not Own	Law Prohibiting Firearms On or Near School Grounds
ALABAMA	13A-11-63, et seq.	Short-barreled rifle or Short-barreled shotgun	None	1. Convicted of committing or attempting to commit crime of violence; 2. Drug addicts or habitual drunkard; shall not deliver to: a minor or a person of unsound mind; 3. Reasonable belief applicant has been convicted of crime; 4. Drug addict/ habitual drunkard	16-1-24.3 Expulsion of students for one year, who are determined to have brought to school or have in their possession a firearm in a school building, on school grounds, or school buses, or at other school-sponsored function. 13A-11-72 Except for authorized law enforcement officers, no person shall knowingly with intent to do bodily harm possess a deadly weapon on the premises of a public school.
ALASKA	11.61.200	Device made or adapted to muffle the report of firearm; firearm capable of shooting more than one shot automatically without manual reloading, by a single function of trigger; rifle with barrel less than 16 inches; shotgun with barrel less than 18 inches or firearm made from a rifle or shotgun which, as modified, has an overall length of less than 26 inches; possession, sale, transfer, or manufacture of above firearms is illegal	None	Convicted felon or adjudicated a delinquent minor for conduct constituting a felony if committed by an adult	Felony: 11.61.195(a)(2)(A) Misdemeanor: 11.61.220(a)(4)(A); 11.61.210(a)(7)-(8)

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State	Code Section	Illegal Arms	Waiting Period	Who May Not Own	Law Prohibiting Firearms On or Near School Grounds
ARIZONA	13-3101, 3102, 3112	Automatic weapons, rifle with barrel less than 16 inches or shotgun barrel less than 18 inches, or any firearm made from rifle/shotgun which as modified has overall length of less than 26 inches, device made or adapted to muffle the report of firearm; firearm capable of shooting one or more shots automatically without manual reloading, by a single function of trigger	None	1. Anyone found to constitute a danger to himself or others pursuant to court order and whose court-ordered treatment has not been terminated by court order; 2. Convicted felon involving violence or possession and use of deadly weapon or dangerous instrument and whose civil rights have not been restored; 3. Imprisoned or in correctional/detention facility	Misdemeanor or Felony. 13-3102(A)(12)
ARKANSAS	5-73-103, 104	Machine gun, sawed-off shotgun or rifle, firearm specially made or adapted for silent discharge, removing or altering serial mark or ID # on firearm	None	1. Convicted felon; 2. Adjudicated mentally ill; 3. Committed involuntarily to any mental institution; 4. Incarcerated person	Felony. 5-73-119(a)(2)
CALIFORNIA	Penal §§12020, 12021, 12071, 12072, 12275-12278	Cane gun; wallet gun; any firearm not immediately recognized as such; short-barreled shotgun or rifle, i.e., barrel of less than 18 inches for shotgun, less than 16 inches for rifle, or less than 26 inches designed to fire a fixed shotgun shell or cartridge; zip gun; any bullet with explosive agent; multi-burst trigger activator; any unconventional pistol; any undetectable firearm; centerfire rifles that can fire a .50 BMG cartridge	10 days	1. Concealed weapons, under 21 yrs.; other firearms, under 18 yrs.; 2. Convicted felon, including those certified by juvenile court for prosecution as adult; 3. Addicted to use of any narcotic drug; 4. Anyone whose express condition of probation is not to own firearm; 5. Persons convicted of certain misdemeanors	Felony.

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State	Code Section	Illegal Arms	Waiting Period	Who May Not Own	Law Prohibiting Firearms On or Near School Grounds
COLORADO	18-12-102, et seq.	“Dangerous weapons”: firearm silencer, machine gun, short rifle/ shotgun, ballistic knife, those with ID or serial number altered or removed	None	Minor (under 18), previous conviction of felony attempt or conspiracy to commit such offenses	Class 6 Felony. 18-12-105.5
CONNECTICUT	29-33, 35; 53a-211, et seq.; 29-31 a	Sawed-off shotgun with barrel less than 18 inches or overall length of less than 26 inches; silencer; pistol/revolver without permit outside house or business	2 weeks from mailing of written application	1. Minors (pistol/revolver); 2. Conviction of felony; 3. Illegal or unlawful alien (pistol/revolver); 4. Confined in a psychiatric hospital within preceding twelve months	Felony. 53a-217b
DELAWARE	Title 11 §1444 & §1445, §1448	Destructive weapons: firearm silencer, sawed-off shotgun, machine gun or any other firearm which is adaptable for use as a machine gun. Dangerous weapons: weapon compressed by air or spring which discharges pellet, slug, or bullet (except B.B. or airgun); possession of destructive weapon is a Class E felony	None	1. Convicted of felony or crime of violence involving physical injury to another, whether or not having in his possession any weapon during commission of such crime; 2. Anyone ever committed for mental disorder to hospital, sanitarium, or mental institution; 3. Convicted of unlawful use, possession, or sale of narcotic or dangerous drug; 4. Juvenile adjudicated as delinquent if conduct as adult would constitute a felony until 25th birthday; 5. Minor (under 18) (handgun, unless for recreational use while under adult supervision)	Felony. Title 11 §1457
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA	§22-4501, 4503, 4507, 4514	Machine gun, sawed-off shotgun, or weapon/instrument of kind commonly known as a blackjack, slingshot, sand club; silencers; imitation pistol with unlawful intent; unlicensed pistol concealed	None	Pistols: 1. Drug addict; 2. Convicted felon; 3. Convicted of soliciting prostitution, keeping bawdy or disorderly house; 4. Vagrants, 5. Not of sound mind	Felony. 22-4502.01

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State	Code Section	Illegal Arms	Waiting Period	Who May Not Own	Law Prohibiting Firearms On or Near School Grounds
FLORIDA	790.001, et seq.	Short-barreled rifle or shotgun, machine gun	3 days excluding weekends and legal holidays	1. Minors (under 21); 2. Convicted felon (or 3 yrs. after sentence or probation fulfilled); 3. Has been convicted or committed for abuse of a controlled substance within last 3 yrs. 4. Anyone who chronically or habitually abuses alcohol or other substances; 5. Has been adjudicated incapacitated (or 5 yrs. after restoration of capacity) 6. Been committed to mental institution (unless free from disability for 5 yrs.) 7. Person subject to injunction against committing acts of domestic violence	Felony. 790.115, 810.095
GEORGIA	16-11-121, et seq.	Sawed-off shotgun or rifle; machine gun; dangerous weapon (“rocket launcher,” “bazooka” or “recoilless rifle,” “mortar,” “hand grenade”) or silencer	None, but 60 days for license to carry pistol	1. Convicted felon; convicted of offense arising out of possession, manufacture, or use of a controlled substance; fugitive from justice; pending proceedings for felony, forcible misdemeanor, for carrying deadly weapon within school safety zone or at public gathering; 2. Under 18 yrs. old; 3. Anyone hospitalized as inpatient at any mental hospital or drug or alcohol treatment center within 5 yrs. of applying for gun license.	Felony. 16-11-127.1

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State	Code Section	Illegal Arms	Waiting Period	Who May Not Own	Law Prohibiting Firearms On or Near School Grounds
HAWAII	134-1, et

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