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Federal Gun-Control Regulations Enacted

1968

In the wake of rising crime and the gun-related assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F Kennedy, Congress enacts the Gun Control Act. The law regulates imported guns, expands licensing and record-keeping requirements, bans mail-order sales of guns and ammunition, raises the legal age to buy a gun, and prevents convicted felons, mentally ill people, illegal drug users and others from buying guns.