 So gun laws and gun control have been in the news a lot lately. Can't imagine why. It would help to know what the existing laws about owning and using guns are and what they require you to do if you want to have a gun, or several, handy. So let's dig in, shall we? The very first law that touches your guns, at least until the Gun Touching Act of 2014 passes, is the requirement of gun registration. Every gun manufacturer, importer, and dealer has registered every gun that either make, import, or sell, and ensure that gun has unique serial number. Whenever a gun is sold, the dealer has to record the purchaser's name and the gun's serial number. They also have to include whether it was purchased for use by an agent of a state or local government. But, the information collected when the gun was registered can't be used as evidence in a criminal case, unless it was given falsely. It's illegal to buy or sell on registered gun. This is in part because every time a gun is made, imported, or sold, you have to pay a tax. The tax is $200, which is the same as it was in 1934. All gun manufacturers, importers, and dealers must also be licensed, and the license fee ranges from $100 to $500. The law specifically states that registration includes guns disguised as other objects. And to make sure that people are following the rules, the ATF inspects licensed gun dealers every 12 months, as well as after any crimes involving that dealer's guns. Breaking the registration or licensing rules will mean your guns get seized and you could pay up to $250,000 in fines as an individual, or $500,000 if you're an organization. A dealer is someone who makes a business selling guns, not someone who sells them occasionally or on the side. There is a vigorous debate over whether these amateur sellers should also get a license and file paperwork. No one knows for sure how many guns are sold this way, with estimates ranging from 25 to 40% of total sales. Some kinds of guns are banned for being sold in the U.S. at all. Machine guns are banned. This means any gun that can shoot more than once in a row without having to pull the trigger again. Silencers are also banned, though both can still be made for export. There are no restrictions, though, on antique firearms, which means anything made in 1898 or before if you can't still readily buy ammo for it. There's also the assault weapons ban, which ran from 1994 to 2004 and is being discussed again. It banned 18 types of semi-automatic guns, which means a gun that lets you shoot multiple times just by pulling the trigger again, that had specific military features, like a telescoping stock, a pistol grip on rifles, a bayonet mount, a grenade launcher, or a flash suppressor. The assault weapons ban also applied to any ammo clips that let you put more than 10 bullets in a gun at a time. One problem was that it didn't apply to anything made before 1994, so there were a lot of semi-automatic weapons still floating around for those 10 years. Another problem was that most types of guns are semi-automatic, so the line between what was and what wasn't banned was hard to understand and rather blurry. The other major federal gun law is the Brady Bill, which applies to background checks. While minors, the ages 21 for handguns and 18 for everything else, felons, drug addicts, and anyone legally decided mentally defective have all been barred from owing guns since 1968, there wasn't any good way of enforcing this. The Brady Bill enacted a system of background checks in 1994. First they were required to be done by law enforcement officers, and then when that was ruled unconstitutional an instant online system was instituted, though many law enforcement officers still voluntarily do background checks. It also widens the gun ban to illegal immigrants, dishonorably discharged soldiers, people under restraining orders, people under indictment for a crime or punishment exceeds one year, and people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. The background check can take up to three days. Congress also offers grants to states to improve their electronic background check systems. Now the state level law is very widely. Some states recognize the permits of other states and some don't. States aren't required to spend their own resources in forcing federal gun laws, though some do. Generally states will have rules about gun registration and licenses, waiting periods, rules on how many guns you can own, and rules about where you can have guns as well as how you can carry them. For example, some states limit the number of guns you can buy at any one time, particularly handguns. Some states require you to log a certain number of shooting hours or even to take a test before you get a gun license. Some states ban weapons in certain public places. And some states make it really hard or impossible to either carry a gun with you everywhere you go, called open carry, or to carry a gun around in secret, called concealed carry. Most states are less restrictive than the federal government, but some are much more so. You may have heard about the Heller case that went to the Supreme Court. DC had banned handguns altogether and required a trigger lock on any guns in the house. The Supreme Court struck both of those restrictions down. The really important part was that the court health of the Second Amendment does guarantee an individual right to bear arms. And there you have it.