Gun control policy of the Bill Clinton administration
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The gun control policy of the Bill Clinton administration was the White House's domestic policy on guns during Bill Clinton's term in office as President of the United States from 1993 to 2001.
Gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
was a major political issue in the first half of Clinton's first term and during that time he lobbied for, and signed, two major pieces of gun control legislation, the
Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...
and the 1994
Federal Assault Weapons Ban The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which include ...
.


Background

After receiving the Democratic nomination for president, Clinton campaigned against
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, in the fall of 1992. In the six previous elections,
Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
had garnered enormous success by labeling their opponents as "soft on crime". Democrats had not used gun control in the past as an election issue. Clinton reversed the tide by using gun control as an issue and calling Bush soft on crime for not pushing for passage of the Brady Bill or the nationwide assault weapons ban. Clinton also strongly endorsed the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.Vizzard, William. ''Shots in the Dark''. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. Bush called for " Going after the criminal not the gun owner". However, on March 15, 1989, less than two months after taking office, Bush temporarily banned, by executive order, the importation of various semi-automatic "assault weapons". That ban was extended a few weeks later to include additional firearms, and was made permanent by Bush in July, 1989. Clinton won the 1992 election with 43% of the vote.


Brady Bill

Soon after taking office, it was clear that one of the most important items on the domestic agenda for the President was to pass the
Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...
. The bill was named after
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
's press secretary
James Brady James Scott Brady (August 29, 1940 – August 4, 2014) was an American public official who served as assistant to the U.S. president and the seventeenth White House Press Secretary, serving under President Ronald Reagan. In 1981, Brady b ...
, who was wounded during the attempt on Reagan's life by John Hinckley. Brady's wife,
Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
, became a gun control advocate, and sought to put restrictions on the purchasing on handguns. The bill had been introduced several times in Congress during the 1980s and early 1990s. President Bush had vetoed an earlier version of the bill after intense pressure from the
National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
(NRA).Clinton, Bill. ''My Life''. New York: Knopf Publishing Group, 2004. The Brady Bill became personal for President Clinton. He became a political ally with Sarah Brady in her quest to get the bill passed. Clinton also saw first hand what he believed was a need for the bill. When he was campaigning for
Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
he met a hardware store owner who had sold a handgun to an unstable Vietnam vet, who had just been released from a mental hospital. The man went on a killing spree with the gun. Clinton cited this in his autobiography, as the best argument he encountered as to why the background checks in the Brady Law were needed. In February 1993 Clinton encouraged congress to pass the Brady bill, stating that he would sign it if they passed it. That same month Charles Schumer introduced the bill in the House and Howard Metzenbaum did so in the Senate.DeConde, Alexander. ''Gun Violence in America''. York PA: Northeastern U. Press, 2001. Public opinion polls at the time showed a majority favored the bill. After several months of debate, the White House had put enough pressure on congress to get several Republican in both houses to support the bill. Despite last-ditch efforts by pro-gun Senators and the NRA, the bill managed to pass both houses and was signed into law on November 30, 1993. The law required a five-day waiting period after purchasing a handgun, and the dealer had to report the sale to the local chief law enforcement officer to run a check on the buyer. Clinton may have called the bill a "good beginning" for more gun control legislation. Many credit Clinton's skills at building coalitions and using the public stage to keep pressure on getting the bill passed.


Federal assault weapons ban

One year after signing the Brady Law, White House lobbying also played a role in the passage of the 1994 Crime Bill, which included the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly known as the
Federal Assault Weapons Ban The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which include ...
. The law banned certain semi-automatic firearms with two or more specific design features, and also prohibited the manufacture of ammunition magazines that held over ten rounds. Although initially heralded as a victory for Clinton and Democrats in congress, it proved costly. The bill energized the NRA and Republican base, and contributed to the Republican takeover of both houses in the 1994 mid-term elections. Many Democrats who had supported Clinton's gun control measures were ousted, including Speaker Tom Foley. Clinton acknowledged that he had hurt Democrats with his victories. Clinton continued to push further regulations of firearms in his second term, especially after the
Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
. Little success came out of his efforts as Republicans controlled congress during this time, and a majority opposed any further gun control. The House voted to overturn the assault weapons ban in 1996, but the Senate failed to take up the issue.


Lasting effects

Certain aspects of the Brady Bill were ruled unconstitutional in court (
Printz v. United States ''Printz v. United States'', 521 U.S. 898 (1997), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that certain interim provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act violated the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constit ...
), and the government now uses an instant check system instead of a five-day wait, but otherwise it survived and is still in effect today. Clinton claimed that the program had stopped thousand of criminals from purchasing guns. Critics pointed out that by 1999, of the more than 23,000 cases that had been referred for prosecution by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
(FBI), the
BATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...
had only arrested 56 people. The assault weapons ban had a sunset clause and expired on September 13, 2004.


Executive Orders

During his term, President Clinton also used the power of
executive orders ''Executive Orders'' is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on July 1, 1996. It picks up immediately where the final events of ''Debt of Honor'' (1994) left off, and features now-U.S. President Jack Ryan as he tries to d ...
to implement gun control policies. On April 6, 1998, Clinton signed an order that permanently banned the importation of more than 50 types of semiautomatic "assault weapons". In 1999, White House domestic policy chief Bruce D. Reed said, "The country is tired of waiting for Congress to respond to the tragedy in Littleton. The administration is going to do every thing in its power to make progress on guns." Many accused Clinton of overuse of the executive power on gun control issues.


Settlement with Smith & Wesson

In 2000, the Clinton administration reached an agreement with Smith & Wesson, to end federal and state lawsuits, in exchange for marketing and design changes by the company. Some of the items Smith & Wesson agreed to were; to sell guns with locks, to build the locks in the weapons within two years, implement
smart gun A smart gun, also called a smart-gun, or smartgun, is a firearm that can detect its authorized user(s) or something that is normally only possessed by its authorized user(s). The term is also used in science fiction to refer to various types of ...
technology, and take ballistic fingerprints of its guns.Smith & Wesson agrees to landmark gun safety settlement - March 17, 2000
/ref> Clinton called the deal a "major victory for America's families." The NRA and other gun rights groups heavily criticized the settlement calling Smith & Wesson's actions "a sell-out", with the NRA calling the agreement ""tantamount to back door blackmail". Smith & Wesson's ownership changed in 2001 and the agreement fell apart after
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
came to office and supported lawsuit protection for gun manufactures. However, Smith & Wesson continues to sell guns with internal locks.


See also

* Bill Clinton *
Gun politics in the United States Gun politics within American politics is defined by two primary opposing ideologies about civilian gun ownership. Those who advocate for gun control support increased regulation of gun ownership; those who advocate for gun rights oppose incre ...
*
Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...


References

{{United States policy Public policy of the Clinton administration Gun politics in the United States United States domestic policy