(For anyone who wishes to view generic firearms information, please see my Firearms - Generic page)

1689	English Bill of Rights protests King James II's use of a standing army.
1770	Tension around presence of British Army in Boston leads to Boston Massacre
1774	Quartering Act
1775	Revolutionary War begins.
1776	Declaration of Independence is proclaimed (announced) as a protest against British colonial rule.
	Virginia is first state to adopt its own Declaration of Rights, including a provision for an armed militia.
1783	Revolutionary War ends.
1786	Shay's Rebellion challenges local militias in Massachusetts and shows weakness of government under Articles of Confederation.
1787	U.S. Constitution is written by delegates to the Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia.
1788	U.S. Constitution is ratified by most states.
1789	Before the House of Representatives, James Madison proposes a series of changes to the U.S. Constitution. Congress proposes the Bill of Rights.
1791	U.S. Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, becomes law.
	First federal tax imposed on alcohol in order to pay debts from the Revolution
1792	U.S. Congress passes the first Militia Act, which requires white men to enroll in their state militias.
1794	Whiskey Rebellion exploded against the whiskey tax. 15,000 militiamen were mustered to firmly establish the Federal Government's authority to enforce such taxes.
1803	Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 - U.S. Supreme Court declares that it has the power of judicial review and exercises it. This is the first case in which the Court holds a law of Congress unconstitutional.
1807	Trial of Aaron Burr. Ruling that juries may have knowledge of a case so long as they have not yet formed an opinion.
1812	Unreliable performance of the state militias in War of 1812 shows the uncertainty of their use for defense.
1813	Kentucky becomes the first state to pass a law outlawing the carrying of concealed weapons.
1820	Houston v Moore, 18 US 1 - This case lays to rest whether the federal government prevails over state powers to control the militia. Anti gunners may claim that all the Second Amendment does is to limit federal control over the militia by guaranteeing that power to the states. However, in case after case, the Court has held that federal control and federal law trumps the state powers to control the militia and its arms. This is one of those cases.
1822	Bliss v. Commonwealth. Kentucky court overturns 1813 ban on carrying concealed weapons. In this case a sword cane. The court noted, "The right existed at the adoption of the Constitution; it then had no limits short of the moral power of the citizens to exercise it, and in fact consisted in nothing else but in the liberty of the citizens to bear arms. Diminish that liberty, therefore, and you necessarily restrain the right; and such is the diminution and restraint, which the act in question most indisputably imports, by prohibiting the citizens wearing weapons in a manner which was lawful to wear when the Constitution was adopted."
1824	Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 - Supreme Court defines Congress's power to regulate commerce, including trade between states and within states if that commerce affects other states.
1833	Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243 - Supreme Court rules that Bill of Rights applies only to actions of the federal government, not to the states and local governments.
1835	Native Americans begin forced moves to reservations farther west; United States provides those who move with guns and other supplies.
1840	Aymette v. State. Supreme Court of Tennessee held that the right to bear arms was a collective right of the people to protect themselves from an repressive government. Its decision stated that "the citizens have the unqualified right to keep weapons...but the right to bear arms is not of the unqualified nature."
1846	Nunn v. State. Georgia state court case where the Georgia Supreme Court found that an 1837 law, banning the sale of most guns in Georgia, was unconstitutional. The court declared, "[t]he language of the Second Amendment is broad enough to embrace both Federal and State governments - - nor is there anything in its terms which restricts its meaning...Is this a right reserved to the State or to themselves? Is it not an unalienable right, which lies at the bottom of every free government? We do not believe that, because the people withheld this arbitrary power of disfranchisement from Congress, they ever intended to confer it on local legislatures. This right is too dear to confided to a republican legislature." It also stated that the second clause of the Second Amendment meant that "....The right of the whole people, old and young, men, women, boys, and not militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, and not such merely as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in upon, in the smallest degree; and all this for the important end to be attained; the rearing up and qualifying a well-regulated militia, so vitally necessary to the security of a free state. Our opinion is, that any law, State or Federal, is repugnant to the Constitution, and void, which contravenes that right. " This was the only court to try to apply the Second Amendment before the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. in 1868.
1849	Congress begins to give surplus army weapons to settlers moving west.
1850	State v. Chandler. The Louisiana Supreme Court allowing a ban on concealed weapons, said the right to carry arms openly "....placed upon men an equality. This is the right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and which is calculated to incite men to a manly and noble defense of themselves, if necessary, and of their country."
1851	Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia, 53 U.S. 299 Supreme Court rules that states can apply their own rules to some foreign and interstate commerce if their rules are of a local nature- unless or until Congress makes rules for particular situations.
1857	Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 - Supreme Court denies that blacks are citizens even if they happen to live in a "free state". Chief Justice Taney's opinion of the court stated that an unconvertible attribute of citizenship, in addition to the right to migrate from one state to another, was the right to possess arms.
1859	Cockrum v. State. The Texas Supreme Court said the purpose of the Second Amendment was a protection as "...the people cannot be effectively oppressed and enslaved, who are not first disarmed." On the right to keep and bear arms, the Court said the right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State Government. It is one of the "high powers" delegated directly to the citizen, and "...is excepted out of the general powers of government". A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the law-making power.
1862	A new Militia Act accepts black men into Union militias.
	Congress passed the Act of July 1, 1862. This act created the OIR (Office of Internal Revenue) and imposed permanent taxes on distilled spirits.
1863	Congress authorized the hiring of "three detectives to aid in the prevention, detection and punishment of tax evaders." This is the beginning of what became the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).
1865	Thirteenth Amendment is ratified. Slavery is not allowed in the United States.
	After the end of the Civil War, Southern states adopt "black codes" that restrict gun usage by African-Americans.
1866	U.S Congress passes Civil Rights Act, which aims to protect Black Americans' rights as U.S. Citizens.
	To guarantee rights of U.S. Citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is proposed.
1868	Fourteenth Amendment is ratified. All people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. This amendment should have passed the protections of the Bill of Rights to the states effectively overruling Barron v Baltimore (1833). Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1: "....No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Unfortunately, not all of the Bill of Rights have been adjudicated as applying to the states. Just the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments have been so adjudicated.
1871	The NRA (National Rifle Association) is founded as an organization for hunters and sportsmen.
1872	English v. State. The Texas Supreme Court said that the Second Amendment applies to the states. It concluded: "Though most of the amendments are restrictions on the general government alone, not on the States, this one seems to be of a nature to bind both the State and National Legislatures, and doubtless it does."
1873	Slaughterhouse cases, 83 U.S. 36 Supreme Court rules that the Fourteenth Amendment does not limit state power to make laws dealing with economic matters. Court mentions the unenumerated right to political participation.
1875	Federal investigators broke up the Whisky Ring involving grain dealers, politicians and revenue agents.
	Congress enacted the first Civil Service Laws
1876	United States v. Cruickshank, 92 U.S. 542 - Supreme Court rules that the right to bear arms for a lawful purpose is not an absolute right granted by the Constitution. States can limit this right and make their own gun laws. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution applies only to the federal government and not to the state governments. It also states that the RKBA exists outside the Constitution: "The right there specified is that of 'bearing arms for a lawful purpose.' That is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent on that instrument for its existence." "The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits Congress from abridging '..the right of the people to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.' This, like the other amendments proposed and adopted at the same time, was not intended to limit the powers of the State Government in respect to their own citizens, but to operate upon the National Government alone." This decision effectively gutted the Fourteenth Amendment by declaring that *none* of the protections proclaimed by the first eight amendments in the Bill of Rights applied to the states.
	U.S. Congress bans sales of some types of ammunition to Native Americans.
1883	Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 The Supreme Court decided that the "privileges and immunities" protected by the Fourteenth Amendment are those which are fundamental in citizenship in a free republican government, such as "are common to the citizens in the latter States under their constitution and laws by virtue of their being citizens." One would think that this would mean that those "privileges and immunities" would also apply to state governments wouldn't it.
1884	Hurtado v. California, 110 U.S. 516 Supreme Court rules that the right to a grand jury indictment does not apply to the states.
1886	Presser v. Illinois, 116 U.S. 252 - Supreme Court rules that states can *limit* the right to bear arms as long as an effective state militia is maintained. It also held that all citizens capable of bearing arms constitute that reserve militia and that the states cannot *prohibit* people from keeping and bearing arms "...so as to deprive the United States of their rightful resource for maintaining public security."
1894	Miller v. Texas, 153 U.S. 535 - Supreme Court declined to rule on a state law prohibiting the carry of deadly weapons on Second Amendment grounds. They felt that Miller had not raised the Second Amendment claim in state court stating, "...if the Fourteenth Amendment limited the power of the States as to such rights, as pertaining to citizens of the United States, we think that it was fatal to this claim that it was not set up in the trial court."
1895	Beard v. United States, 158 U.S. 550 - Beard's manslaughter conviction charge was overturned by the Supreme Court because the judge in the lower court had instructed the jury that Beard had a duty to retreat before using deadly force. The Supreme Court said that Beard was entitled to "..stand his ground and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly weapon, in such way and with such force.." needed to protect him from harm.
1896	Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 - Supreme Court upholds a state law based on "separate but equal" facilities for different races.
	Commonwealth v. Murphy. Massachusetts court said that "...it has been almost universally held that the legislature may regulate and limit the mode of carrying arms."
1897	Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U.S. 275 - While the Supreme Court said that laws prohibiting the carrying of *concealed* weapons do not violate the Second Amendment, it affirmed that, "The law is perfectly well settled that the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, were not intended to lay down any novel principles of government, but simply to embody certain guarantees and immunities which we had inherited from our English ancestors, and which had, from time immemorial, been subject to certain well-recognized exceptions, which continued to be recognized as if they had been formally expressed."
1902	In re Brickley. The Idaho Supreme Court, referring to the US Constitution, said: "Under these constitutional provisions, the legislature has no power to prohibit a citizen from bearing arms in any portion of the State of Idaho, whether within or without the corporate limits of cities, towns and villages."
1903	U.S. Congress passes a new Militia Act, placing state militias under authority of U.S. President and creating a national reserve force called the National Guard. This marks the first time that the militia is divided into the "Organized " Militia and the "Unorganized " Militia.
1905	Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 Supreme Court strikes down a state law regulating maximum work hours.
1911	New York state legislature passes the Sullivan Law, restricting the sale, possession, and use of deadly weapons.
1914	Weeks v. United States. Supreme Court establishes that illegally obtained evidence, obtained by unreasonable search and seizure cannot be used in federal trials.
1918	Hammer v. Dagenhart. Supreme Court declares unconstitutional a federal law prohibiting the shipment between states of goods made by young children.
1919	Eighteenth Amendment is ratified. Prohibition begins. Combined with the Volstead Prohibition Enforcement Act, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service and the newly created Prohibition Unit (PU) gain jurisdiction over the illicit manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors.
	U.S. Congress passes War Revenues Act, placing first tax on firearms.
1921	State v. Kerner. The North Carolina Supreme Court called the right to keep and bear arms, "..a sacred right based upon the experience of the ages in order that the people may be accustomed to bear arms and ready to use them for protection of their liberties or their country when occasion serves.." and "...'pistol' ex vi termini is properly included within the word 'arms' and ... the right to bear arms cannot be infringed."
1922	People v. Zerillo. The Michigan Supreme Court extended the right to unnaturalized foreign-born residents. It said: "Firearms serve the people of this country a useful purpose wholly aside from hunting, and under a constitution like ours, granting...to every person the right to bear arms for the defense of himself and the state......The legislature has no power to constitute it a crime for a person, alien or citizen, to possess a revolver for the legitimate defense of himself and his property..."
1923	Meyer v. Nebraska 262 U.S. 390 - Supreme Court rules that a law banning the teaching of foreign languages or teaching in languages other than English is unconstitutional. Court says that certain areas of people's private lives are protected from government interference.
1924	Ex parte Ramirez. The California Supreme Court held that aliens could be prohibited from owning concealable weapons, but "...an absolute prohibition of such right might be held to infringe a fundamental right."
1925	Carroll v. United States 267 U.S. 132 - Supreme Court allows searches of automobiles without a search warrant under some circumstances.
	Gillow v. New York. Supreme Court rules that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are protected from state actions by the Fourteenth Amendment.
1927	"Roaring Twenties" spawned organized crime to satisfy public demand for alcoholic beverages. In reaction, the Prohibition Unit became a separate department called the Bureau of Prohibition (BP) whose target was the emerging empires of Al Capone, Waxie Gordon and others. This group became known as the "Untouchables".
	Miller Bill to limit mail-order sales of concealable guns is passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law.
1931	Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 - Supreme Court rules that liberty of the press and of speech are safeguarded from state action.
	Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359 - Supreme Court extends concept of freedom of speech to symbolic actions such as displaying a flag.
	People v. Brown. The Michigan Supreme Court said, "When the bulwark of state defense was the militia, privately armed, there may have been good reason for the historical and military test of the right to bear arms. But in this state, the militia although legally existent and composed of all able-bodied male citizens....is practically extinct and has been superceded by the National Guard and reserve organizations...The historical test would render the constitutional provision lifeless. The protection of the constitution is *not* limited to militiamen nor military purposes, in terms, but extends to 'every person' to bear arms for the 'defense of himself' as well as the state."
1932	Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 - Supreme Court rules that poor defendants have a right to an appointed lawyer when tried for crimes that may result in the death penalty.
1934	Twenty-first Amendment ratified ending the Prohibition Era. The Bureau of Prohibition (BP), which had been moved to the Justice Department, turned over its responsibilities to a newly created Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU) within the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
	U.S. Congress limits use of "gangster weapons" by passing National Firearms Act, first federal law to restrict keeping and bearing of firearms.
1935	Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587 (Second Scottsboro case) - Supreme Court reverses the conviction of an African-American because of the long continued excluding of African-Americans from jury service in the trial area.
	Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAA) passed creating licensing and permit requirements and establishing regulations over the businessmen and customers as it related to alcohol.
1937	Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 - Supreme Court refuses to require states to protect people under the double jeopardy clause of the Bill of Rights. However, the case leads to future applications of individual rights in the Bill of Rights on a case-by-case basis.
	DeJonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353 - Supreme Court rules that freedom of assembly and petition are protected against state laws.
1938 -	U.S. Congress passes Federal Firearms Act, giving federal government more control over gun sales and making it a federal crime for felons and fugitives to receive firearms in interstate commerce.
1939	United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 - Supreme Court rules that National Firearms Act of 1934 does not violate the Second Amendment. Jack Miller, et al, were indicted for illegally transporting a sawed off shotgun violating the 1934 NFA. District Court dismissed the indictment holding that the section of the National Firearms Act that Miller had violated was in itself a violation of the Second Amendment. The US appealed to the Supreme Court. Since Miller, et al, had been adjudicated not guilty, they left for parts unknown. This meant that Miller no longer had representation in the Supreme Court (which made absolutely no difference to Miller, but it sure hurt the rest of us) and that only the Government's side was presented. The Supreme Court ruled on whether or not the shotgun possessed by Miller had "...some reasonable relationship to the preservation of a well regulated militia." Because of insufficient evidence (remember Miller's side was not represented) presented to the District and the Supreme Courts, the case was remanded for further proceedings. The case itself had *nothing* to do with either the Second Amendment being a collective or an individual right or Miller's being a member or not of any militia, although they did look at the militias and their purpose: "The signification attributed to the term Militia appears in the Convention, the history and legislation of the Colonies and States, and the writing of approved commentators. These show plainly enough that the Militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. 'A body of citizens enrolled for military discipline.' And further, that ordinarily when called for service these men were expected to appear bearing arms supplied by themselves and of the kind in common use at the time."
1940	Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 - Supreme Court rules that the free exercise of religion is protected against state laws.
1942	Cases v. United States, 131 F. 2d 916,922 (1st Cir. 1942) is heard by a U.S. Court of Appeals, Cert. denied 319 U.S. 770, which decides that the federal government can limit the right to keep and bear firearms but cannot prohibit any weapon that could be used by a person serving in a militia.
	The Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) merged with the Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU) inside the Treasury Department.
	Responsibility for administering the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Federal Firearms Act of 1938 was given to the Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU).
1943	Barnette v. West Virginia State Board of Education, 319 U.S. 624 - Supreme Court rules that flag salute laws are unconstitutional.
1946	Theil v. Pacific Railroad. Juries must be a cross section of the community, excluding no group based on religion, race, sex or economic status.
1947	Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township, 330 U.S. 1 - Supreme Court rules that government attempts to impose religious practices, the establishment of a religion, is forbidden to the states.
	Shelly v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 - The Supreme Court said, "The civil rights intended to be protected from discriminatory state action by the Fourteenth Amendment....was regarded by the framers of that Amendment as an essential precondition to the realization of other civil rights and liberties which the Amendment was intended to guarantee."
1948	In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257 - Supreme Court rules that defendants have the right to public trial in non-federal trials.
1949	Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 - Supreme Court rules that freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures also applies to the states.
1951	Tobacco tax duties were delegated to the Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU)
1952	The Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU) was changed to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD), The division now enforced laws for alcohol, tobacco and firearms.
1954	Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 - Supreme Court rules that segregation on the basis of race (in public education) denies equal protection of the laws.
1959	Bartkus v. Illinois, 359 U.S. 121 - In re protection of rights under the Fourteenth Amendment (See 1883 - Civil rights Cases) the Supreme Court decided that "fundamental rights" are those in the Bill of Rights that also are guaranteed by the state constitutions or which are not inconsistent with the state constitution: "Evidencing the interpretation by both Congress and States of the Fourteenth Amendment is a comparison of the constitutions of the ratifying states with the Federal Constitution." The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Amendments have been incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, and less than 50% (15) of the 31 states that ratified the Fourteenth Amendment had similar provisions. A greater percentage of the 31 ratifying states (21 or 60%) had provisions that guaranteed the right to bear arms, and no state has provisions that contradict the Second Amendment.
1960	Hutchinson v. Rosetti. The Municipal Court of the City of New York, Borough of Queens, ordered the police to return a confiscated gun the the owner had used to protect himself against a mob. The Court said: "Passing for the moment that the law, as a matter of broad policy, frowns on forfeiture, there is no constitutional guarantee of the right of the individual to bear arms. Amendments Article II." It said that Anglo-American law supported "..the right of self defense."
1961	Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 - Supreme Court rules that illegally obtained evidence must not be allowed in state criminal trials.
1962	Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 - Supreme Court strikes down state-sponsored school prayer, saying it is no business of government to compose official prayers as part of a religious program carried on by the government.
1963	Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 - Supreme Court rules that the right of people accused of serious crimes to be represented by an appointed counsel applies to state criminal trials.
	President John F. Kennedy is assassinated with a mail-order rifle while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
1964	Civil Rights Act is passed.
	Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1 - Supreme Court rules that the right to protection against forced self incrimination applies to state trials. "The Court has not hesitated to re-examine past decisions according the Fourteenth Amendment a less central role in the preservation of basic liberties than that which was contemplated by its Framers when they added the amendment to our constitutional scheme."
	NAACP v. Alabama 377 U.S. 288 - Supreme Court rules that the privacy of membership lists in an organization is part of the right to freedom of assembly and association.
1965	Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 - Supreme Court rules that there is a right to privacy in marriage and declares unconstitutional a state law banning the use of or the giving of information about birth control.
	Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400 - Supreme Court rules that the right to confront witnesses against an accused person applies to state trials.
	Muslim minister and African-American leader Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City.
1966	Parker v. Gladden, 385 U.S. 363 - Supreme Court ruling is interpreted to mean that the right to an impartial jury is applied to the states.
	Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 - Supreme Court extends the protection against forced self-incrimination. Police have to inform people in custody of their rights before questioning them.
1967	Katz v. United States, 386 U.S. 954 - Supreme Court rules that people's right to be free of unreasonable searches includes protection against electronic surveillance.
	Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14 - Supreme Court rules that accused people have the right to have witnesses in their favor brought into court.
	In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 - Supreme Court rules that juvenile proceedings that might lead to a young person's being sent to a state institution must follow due process and fair treatment. These include the rights against forced self-incrimination, to counsel, to confront witnesses.
	Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213 - Supreme Court rules that the right to a speedy trial applies to state trials.
1968 -	Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated with a rifle on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee.
	Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act passed.
	Haynes v. United States 390 U.S. 85 - Supreme Court exempts criminals from prosecution of all violations of registration and licensing laws based on the self-incrimination clause of the Fifth Amendment. If a prohibited person uses false ID and falsifies a Form 4473, he/she can only be charged with a misdemeanor of signing a false statement. A law-abiding citizen falsifying a Form 4473 is guilty of a felony.
	Gun Control Act is passed by U.S. Congress in an attempt to control gun related violence. It replaced the firearms provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. It also repealed the 1938 Federal Firearms Act and amended the 1934 National Firearms Act. Bombs and other destructive devices were added to machine guns and sawed off shotguns as items strictly controlled by the government. It also created stricter licensing and regulation of the firearms industry and established new categories of firearms offenses.
	The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD) was renamed as the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division (ATFD) of the Internal Revenue Service.
	Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 - Supreme Court rules that the right to a jury trial in criminal cases applies to state trials. On the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment, in a concurring position Justice Black quoted Senator Jacob Howard in introducing the amendment. "The personal rights guaranteed and secured by the first eight amendments of the Constitution; such as ....the right to keep and bear arms...The great object of the first section of this amendment is, therefore, to restrain the power of the States and compel them at all times to respect these great fundamental guarantees."
1969	Benton v. Maryland, 392 U.S. 925 - Supreme Court rules that the protection against double jeopardy applies to the states.
	Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 - Supreme Court rules that speech calling for the use of force or crime can only be prohibited if it is directed to bringing about immediate lawless action and is likely to bring about such action.
1970	Organized Crime Control Act passed. This law included sections known as the Explosives Control Act (ESC) which established certain bombings and arsons as federal crimes. This jurisdiction came under the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division (ATFD).
	Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S 78" - Juries in cases that do not lead to the possibility of the death penalty may consist of six jurors rather than twelve.
1971	Pentagon Papers case. Freedom of the press is protected by forbidding prior restraint.
	Bass v. United States, 404 U.S. 336 - Bass was convicted of possessing firearms in violation of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, which provides that a person convicted of a felony "who receives, possesses, or transports in commerce or affecting commerce . . . any firearm . . ." shall be punished as prescribed therein. The indictment did not allege and no attempt was made to show that the firearms involved had been possessed "in commerce or affecting commerce," the Government contended that the statute did *not* require proof of a connection with interstate commerce. Doubting the constitutionality of that interpretation of the statute, the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court decision feeling that it was not clear from the language and legislative history of the Act whether or not receipt or possession of a firearm by a convicted felon had to be shown to have been connected with interstate commerce. The ambiguity of this provision (which is not only a criminal statute but one whose broad construction would define as a federal offense conduct already legislated by the States), must therefore be resolved in favor of the narrower reading that a nexus with interstate commerce must be shown with respect to the offenses embraced by Act. This was the first case to reach the Supreme Court on the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the 1968 Gun Control Act.
1972	The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division (ATFD) separated from the Internal Revenue Service and given full bureau status within the Treasury Department. The birth of the BATF.
	Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 - Supreme Court rules that the death penalty (as it was then decided upon) is cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional.
	Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 - Supreme Court rules that right to counsel applies to all criminal cases that might involve a jail term.
1973	Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 - Supreme Court declares that the right to privacy protects a woman's right to end pregnancy by abortion under specified circumstances.
1975	President Gerald R. Ford survives two assassination attempts in one month.
1976	United States v. Warin. A U.S. Court of Appeals rules that congressional regulation of firearms is constitutional.
	Barrett V. United States, 423 U.S. 212 - The Supreme Court affirmed that the provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. 922 (h), making it unlawful for a convicted felon, inter alia, "to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce," held to apply to a convicted felon's intrastate purchase from a retail dealer of a firearm that previously, but independently of the felon's receipt, had been transported in interstate commerce from the manufacturer to a distributor and then from the distributor to the dealer was constitutional.
	Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 - Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is to be allowed if it is decided upon in a consistent and reasonable way, if the sentencing follows strict guidelines, and if the penalty is not required for certain crimes.
	National League of Cities v. Usery, 426 U.S. 833 - Supreme Court holds that the Tenth Amendment prevents Congress from making federal minimum wage and overtime rules apply to state and city workers.
1977	Scarborough v. United States, 431 U.S. 563 - The Supreme Court affirmed that in a prosecution for possession of a firearm in violation of the provision of Title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. App. 1202 (a), making it a crime for a convicted felon to possess "in commerce or affecting commerce" any firearm, proof that the possessed firearm previously traveled at some time in interstate commerce held sufficient to satisfy the statutorily required nexus between possession and commerce. This is so, where, as in this case, the firearm in question traveled in interstate commerce before the accused became a convicted felon; the nexus need not be "contemporaneous" with the possession. Both the text and legislative history of the statute show a congressional intent to require no more than the minimal nexus that the firearm have been, at some time, in interstate commerce and to outlaw possession broadly, with little concern for when the nexus with commerce occurred.
1978	The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was charged with enforcing the Contraband Cigarette Act and developed the federal effort against arson.
	Duke Power Co. V. Carolina Environmental Study Group, 438 U.S. 59 - Supreme Court upholds state law limiting liability of federally licensed power companies in the event of a nuclear accident.
1979	Last restrictions on Native American gun ownership are lifted.
1980	Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55 - This case arises as a result of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and a 1961 felony conviction to the petitioner. The petitioner felt that other court decisions showed that his conviction was unconstitutional and should be vacated. "Four cases decided by this Court provide the focus for petitioner's attack upon his conviction. The first, and pivotal one, is Gideon v. Wainwright, supra, where the Court held that a state felony conviction without counsel, and without a valid waiver of counsel, was unconstitutional under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. That ruling is fully retroactive. Kitchens v. Smith, 401 U.S. 847 (1971). [445 U.S. 55, 60] The second case is Burgett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109 (1967). There the Court held that a conviction invalid under Gideon could not be used for enhancement of punishment under a State's recidivist statute. The third is United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443 (1972), where it was held that such a conviction could not be considered by a court in sentencing a defendant after a subsequent conviction. And the fourth is Loper v. Beto, 405 U.S. 473 (1972), where the Court disallowed the use of the conviction to impeach the general credibility of the defendant. The prior conviction, the plurality opinion said, "lacked reliability." Id., at 484, quoting Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 639 , and n. 20 (1965). We, of course, accept these rulings for purposes of the present case. Petitioner's position, however, is that the four cases require a reversal of his conviction under 1202 (a) (1) on both statutory and constitutional grounds." The Court's position was that "...a felony conviction imposes firearm disability until the conviction is vacated or the felon is relieved of his disability by some affirmative action." and "...that the firearm regulatory scheme at issue here is consonant with the concept of equal protection embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, since Congress could rationally conclude that any felony conviction, even an alledgedly invalid one, is a sufficient basis on which to prohibit the possession of a firearm."
1981	President Ronald Reagan and his press secretary James Brady survive an assassination attempt that uses a Saturday Night Special.
	Handgun Crime Control Act, which includes a seven day waiting period for the purchase of a handgun, is introduced for the first time in U.S. Congress, but fails to pass.
	Town of Morton Grove, Illinois, bans the sale or possession of handguns within its limits.
	Quilici v. Village of Morton Grove, Cert, denied 464 U.S. 863 - U.S. District court upholds a local ban on sale and possession of handguns.
1982	Californians reject gun registration by voting down Proposition 15, a law that would have required all handgun owners to register their firearms, banned further handgun sales and transfers to private citizens, severely restricted the importation of new handguns by people moving into the state, and prohibited the manufacture of cheap handguns by the "Ring of Fire" companies.
	Congress passes the Anti-Arson Act which includes the intentional destruction of property by fire as a federal violation.
1985	Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, 469 U.S. 528 - Supreme Court rules that Congress can make laws dealing with wages and hour rules applied to city-owned transportation systems.
1986	U.S. Congress passes Firearms Owners Protection Act, repealing parts of the 1968 Gun Control Act by allowing interstate sales and transportation of firearms.
	U.S. Congress bans sale and manufacture of new machine guns for civilians
	Congress amends the Gun Control Act of 1968 to establish mandatory sentences for armed drug traffickers and violent career criminals.
1988	U.S. Congress passes federal law banning plastic, undetectable guns.
	Voters in Maryland choose to ban Saturday Night Specials, despite heavy pressure from the National Rifle Association against the ban.
1989 -	In response to Ken Purdy's schoolyard attack with an AK-47 in California, U.S. Congress bans import of 43 types of military assault-style weapons.
	Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 - Supreme Court holds that a state may prohibit all use of public facilities and publicly employed staff in abortions.
	Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 - Supreme Court rules that flag burning is protected and is a form of "symbolic speech".
1990	U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allows import of some previously banned assault style weapons.
	Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261 - Supreme court recognizes for the first time a very sick person's right to die without being forced to undergo unwanted medical treatment and a person's right to a living will.
	CNN v. Noriega, 498 U.S. 976 - Supreme Court upholds a lower federal court's decision to allow prior restraint thus limiting the First Amendment right of freedom of the press.
	U.S. v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259 - Chief Justice Reihnquist observed that, " '...the people' protected by the Fourth Amendment, and by the First and Second Amendments...refer to a class of persons who are a part of a national community or who have otherwise developed sufficient connections with this country to be considered part of that community." [Emphasis added]
	E.G. Perpich v Department of Defense, 496 US 334 - Article I's plain language, read as a whole, establishes that Congress may authorize members of the National Guard of the United States to be ordered to active federal duty for purposes of training outside the United States without either the consent of a State Governor or the declaration of a national emergency. The unchallenged validity of the dual enlistment system means that Guard members lose their state status when called to active federal duty, and, if that duty is a training mission, the training is performed by the Army. This interpretation merely recognizes the supremacy of federal power in the military affairs area and does not significantly affect either the State's basic training responsibility or its ability to rely on its own Guard in state emergency situations.
1992	Randy Weaver's wife, Vicki and son, Sam, are shot and killed by U.S. FBI agents during a standoff in Idaho. Weaver was charged with failing to make a court appearance on a weapons charge. Weaver has since been declared "Not Guilty" on all counts by a federal jury. He was defended by Gerry Spence.
	Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 000 U.S. U10345 Supreme Court decision includes the statement that: "It is tempting, as a means of curbing the discretion of federal judges, to suppose that liberty encompasses no more than those rights already guaranteed to the individual against federal interference by the express provisions of the first eight amendments to the Constitution. [Emphasis added]
1993	Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas raided by agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Four agents were killed. In the ensuing 51 day stand off, federal agents from the FBI tried to get the Davidians to surrender under David Koresh to surrender. When they didn't the compound was gassed and a blaze broke out burning the buildings to the ground. 82 Davidians died. Raid was about illegal weapons charges.
	Smith v. U.S. 508 US 223 - Supreme Court held that attempting to trade a firearm for an illicit drug constituted "use" during and related to a drug trafficking crime. They held that "use" in "...Title 18 U.S.C 924(c)(1)'s plain language imposes no requirement that a firearm be 'use[d]' as a weapon, but applies to any use of a gun that facilitates in any manner the commission of a drug offense."
1994	Brady Law was enacted on February 28.
	Staples v. U.S. 000 US U10420 - Supreme Court reversed and remanded a Circuit Court case where a man named Staples was held guilty of possessing a semi-automatic weapon that had been converted to full automatic. (A violation of the 1934 NFA). Staples swore that he had never fired the weapon in full auto and did not even know that the conversion had been done. The government could not prove mens rea and the fact that ignorance of the firearm's characteristics should not be considered as an intent made Staple's actions innocent.
1995	Oklahoma City - Federal Government's Murrah Building was alledgedly bombed with a Ryder rental truck filled with ANFO. 168 people died.
	U.S. v. Lopez 000 US U10287 - Supreme Court affirmed a Circuit Court ruling (on a case involving a high school senior who took a gun into his school) that the possession of a gun within "...a local school zone is in no sense an economic activity that might, through repetition elsewhere, have such a substantial effect on interstate commerce........... Respondent was a local student at a local school; there is no indication that he had recently moved in interstate commerce, and there is no requirement that his possession of the firearm have any concrete tie to interstate commerce. To uphold the Government's contention that [18 U.S.C] 922(q) is justified because firearms possession in a local school zone does indeed substantially affect interstate commerce would require this Court to pile inference upon inference in a manner that would bid fair to convert congressional Commerce Clause authority to a general police power of the sort held only by the States."
	Hickman v. Block 94-55836 - 9th Cicuit case in which Hickman (an FFL holder) who attempted several times to get a Concealed Weapons Permit in the State of California. He filed suit claiming that the refusals had violated his Second Amendment rights. In the suit, "Hickman argues that the Second Amendment requires the states to regulate gun ownership and use in a "reasonable" manner." The court held that "[T]he question presented at the threshold of Hickman's appeal is whether the Second Amendment confers upon individual citizens standing to enforce the right to keep and bear arms. We follow our sister circuits in holding that the Second Amendment is a right held by the states, and does not protect the possession of a weapon by a private citizen. We conclude that Hickman can show no legal injury, and therefore lacks standing to bring this action."
1996	Antiterrorism and Effective death Penalty Act passed making it unlawful to possess stolen explosives. This act also required the Treasury Department to conduct a one year study on the use of taggants.
	Church Arson Prevention Act amended 18 USCode 247 to strengthen criminal laws against church burning and desecration.
1997	Tim McVeigh declared guilty of conspiracy in bombing of Murrah Building in OKC.
	Prinz-Mack v. U.S The portion of the Brady Bill that required the state and local police to perform a check on gun purchasers was ruled unconstitutional ( a violation of the Tenth Amendment) by the Supreme Court.
1998	Washington State Gun Control Bill was shot down overwhelmingly by the voters in a 4 to 1 defeat.
	Terry Nichols was convicted to life imprisonment for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
	Minnesota v Carter - A Supreme Court case where it is decided that someone visiting you does not have Fourth Amendment protections. An officer peering through through a gap in closed blinds observed Carter and Johns (the two respondents) and the lessee of the room bagging cocaine. The Supreme Court ruled that while an overnight guest may have some expectations of privacy in someone else's home, one who is merely present with the consent of the homeowner may not. Therefore any search that occurred did not infringe on their constitutional rights.
1999	US v. Emerson - A Texas federal court case of a man under a restraining order was under federal criminal prosecution for possession of a firearm under 18 USC 922(g)(8). The man (Emerson) argued that the referenced statute was an unconstitutional exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause and the Second, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments. The Fifth Circuit had previously riled that the Commerce Act additions to 18 USC 922 were constitutional. The judge then proceeded to examine the case under Second Amendment grounds. After rigorous research, he determined that "There must be a limit to government regulation on lawful firearm possession. This statute exceeds that limit, and therefore it is unconstitutional." The judge also ruled that 922(g)(8) is an obscure, highly technical statute with no mens rea requirement. It violated Emerson's Fifth Amendment due process rights by prosecuting him without proof of knowledge that he was violating the statute. This case makes excellent reading not only for its references but for its conclusion from all the research that the Second Amendment is indeed an *individual* right.
2001	US v Emerson - Appellate Decision - The 5th District Court of Appeals has reviewed the lower court ruling in US v Emerson (1999) and has upheld the lower court ruling on the Second Amendment being an individual right while stating that the *specific* loss of Emerson's right to keep and bear arms while under a restraining order was not unconstitutional. The bottom line is that although the appeals court agreed with and upheld the lower court's opinion that RKBA was an individual versus a collective right, it also stated that the right to keep and bear arms may be suspended on an individual basis if the reason follows a very tight and narrow restriction path under due process.
2002	Brief from Solictor General of United States, Theodore B. Olson to the Supreme Court and US Attorneys that the government's position on the Second Amendment is that it supports the "Individual Rights" model. "In its brief to the court of appeals, the government argued that the Second Amendment protects only such acts of firearm possession as are reasonably related to the preservation or efficiency of the militia. The current position of the United States, however, is that the Second Amendment more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms, subject to reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unfit persons or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal misuse." The Solicitor General also stated that he did not wish the Supreme Court to review either Emerson v US - 5th Circuit or Haney v US - 10th Circuit as ".....even accepting an individual right to bear arms, the application of the laws at issue in both cases reflected the kind of narrowly tailored restrictions by which that right could reasonably be limited. Consequently, there was no warrant for the court to take either case....."

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