History of Gun Control Laws in the United States

Gun laws are a very controversial topic. Supporters of gun laws believe that the passage of each gun law makes the country safer for law abiding citizens by decreasing the amount of guns circulating within the country. Proponents argue that if gun laws are not passed or are revoked the safety and well being of the entire country could be at risk. Opponents of gun laws object to this characterization. They believe many gun laws to be unconstitutional. Opponents to gun laws point to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the rights to bear arms, as the reason gun laws cannot and should not be passed by the government of the United States.

There have been six federal gun laws which have limited or adjusted who is allowed to obtain guns and who those gun may be exchanged between people. The first gun law was the National Firearms Act, passed in 1934. Then United States Attorney General Homer S. Cummings sought to regulate the weapons commonly used by gangster following the repeal of Prohibition. Recognizing the Second Amendment prevented passage of a gun law banning them, he sought to make the possession and used of them prohibitively expensive, which would effectively ban them from common use. This gun law regulated the use of silencers and suppressors, destructive devices such as grenades, bombs and chemical weapons, shotguns and rifles with shortened barrels, and any gun capable of fire more than one bullet per trigger pull.

The next two federal attempts to change gun law came in the wake of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. In 1968 two different gun laws were passed. The first was the Omnibus Crime and Safe Streets Act of 1968, passed on June 19. This gun law prohibited the interstate trade in handguns. established a national gun licensing system, and restricted gun purchases from individuals under the age of twenty-one. The Gun Act of 1968 was a gun law which made gun possession illegal for certain individuals. This gun law affected anyone who has been sentenced in federal court to more than one year in jail or to two years in a state court, unless for violations of business law, any fugitive, any unlawful user of drugs or alcohol, anyone found to have a mental defect, any illegal alien or foreigner in the United States under a non-immigrant visa unless under a tourist or student visa and also in possession of a hunting license, anyone dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces, or any person who has renounced United States citizenship. Amendments to this gun law passed in 1996 made it illegal for any person who is the subject of a restraining order or been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor to possess a gun. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act passed in 1996 instituted federal background checks to ensure that no one was able to bypass any existing gun law. The availability of computer checks allows most checks to be down while the gun dealer is still on the phone with the FBI.

Brief Examination of Harassment Laws

Harassment laws are an area of law that has only recently become developed. Some harassment laws are a subsection of employment and labor laws. Labor laws have been slow to develop, and are a continual source of conflict. Labor law began to develop in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. Harassment laws began to receive a larger amount of attention at the close of the Twentieth Century with their areas of concern being expanded at the start of the Twenty-First Century. Harassment law which is under the auspices of labor law are concerned with the relationship between employers and employees, as well as the interactions between individual employees. Many harassment laws concerned with an individual’s rights within the workplace. Violations of harassment law may also cause perpetrators to have to deal with criminal law courts, as well as civil litigation, depending on the severity of the violation.

As with many other areas of law, harassment law is concerned with protecting the rights of those who cannot protect their own rights. Harassment law is generally meant to protect against nine different violations: bullying, psychological harassment, racial harassment, religious harassment, sexual harassment, stalking, mobbing, hazing, and police harassment. Bullying has begun to receive an increased level of attention recently from specialists in harassment law. After the January 2010 suicide of a fifteen year old girl in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts legislation decided to strengthen the criminal penalties that harassment laws levy against those found guilty of bullying. As a result of police finding in the investigation of the case nine different teens have been arrested for violating a variety of harassment laws. Charges filed include statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, harassment, stalking and disturbing a school assembly. Bullying often violates many of the harassment laws which govern other forms of harassment. As a result, many states do not have specific harassment laws which criminalize bullying as a specific crime, choosing instead to prosecute under other violations of harassment law.

Racial harassment laws are also known as racial discrimination laws. Racial harassment law is concerned with the criminalization of acts designed persecute a person based on ethnic grounds or as a result of their skin tone. Sexual harassment law is closely related. Religious discrimination laws are similar, but are predicated upon harassment based on an individual’s practice of religion. Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted and unwelcome, words, deeds, actions, gestures, symbols, or behaviors of a sexual nature that make the target feel uncomfortable. sexual harassment laws protect both men and women from being harassed by members of the same and opposite gender. Harassment laws regarding stalking only take effect after the victim fears for their safety and their has been an unfair impingement upon their privacy. Psychological harassment laws are concerned with actions that lower a person’s self esteem or causes an individual torment. Another violation of harassment law, mobbing, has been called vigilantism. Police harassment law violations include the excessive force and profiling. Hazing is the violation of harassment laws against a person considered inferior by the perpetrator, and is usually done in a systematic matter.

Categories of Labor Law

Labor law covers a broad area of subjects. Labor laws were slow to develop, and are a continual source of conflict. Labor law began to develop in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. There are two basic classifications of labor laws. Collective labor laws are examples of labor law which govern the relationship between employers, employees, and labor unions. Individual labor laws are the area of law concerned with an individual’s rights within the workplace as well as the contracts which are signed to restrict the govern the terms of work.

The first category of labor law concerns itself with contracts of employment. Contracts of employment have provided the foundation of Western economic growth since the collapse of feudalism. These contracts based upon established labor laws provide the core basis for modern economies throughout the world. Labor law within the United States recognizes two forms of contract. The first is a contract to provide employment to complete a specific task, such as the construction of a house or for a specific period of time. These contracts are less common that “at-will” contracts. In the United States most state labor laws recognize that an employee only has their job at the will of their employer. Labor law recognizes the right of the employer to release an employee at any time, with a period of advanced warning determined by the contract, so long as the release does not violate any labor laws, such as those guaranteeing protection from any kind of discrimination.

Other areas of labor law that are common in many countries around the world are the establish the payment of a minimum wage, limitations of hours that can be worked by an individual, restrictions on the work of underage persons, guarantees of workplace safety, and protection from indiscriminate firing. Labor laws regarding a minimum wage were first established in the United States in 1938. Most of the industrialized nations have established minimum wage laws, while underdeveloped countries lack these protective labor laws. Labor laws which established an eight hour work day as the standard developed during the 1840s. These labor laws started as an attempt to protect underage children from the unscrupulous practices of factory owners and overseers. The eight hour work day established by these labor laws were much lower than the standard number of hours which had been common, which reached as high as sixteen hours or more following the Industrial Revolution. Work place safety standards in the United States are monitored under the labor law which established OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The first employment laws governing workplace safety were establish in England in 1802.

Employment law dealing specifically with children’s rights represent an outgrowth of the movement for universal schooling and worker’s rights. Child labor is generally seen as exploitative, but unfortunately much of it happens outside of the reach of officials charged with enforcing labor law. Despite the attention paid to children working in sweatshops, mot of the violations of these labor laws take place in informal settings, such as children working in the home, selling items on street corners, or working in agriculture.

Areas of Employment Law

Employment law covers a broad area of subjects. Employment laws were slow to develop, and are a continual source of conflict. Employment law began to develop in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. There are two basic classifications of employment laws. Collective labor laws are examples of employment law which govern the relationship between employers, employees, and labor unions. Individual labor laws are the area of employment law concerned with an individual’s rights within the workplace as well as the contracts which are signed to restrict the govern the terms of work.

The first category of employment law concerns itself with contracts of employment. Contracts of employment have provided the foundation of Western economic growth since the collapse of feudalism. These contracts based upon established employment laws provide the core basis for modern economies throughout the world. Employment law within the United States recognizes two forms of contract. The first is a contract to provide employment to complete a specific task, such as the construction of a house or for a specific period of time. These contracts are less common that “at-will” contracts. In the United States most state employment laws recognize that an employee only has their job at the will of their employer. Employment law recognizes the right of the employer to release an employee at any time, with a period of advanced warning determined by the contract, so long as the release does not violate any employment laws, such as those guaranteeing protection from any kind of discrimination.

Other areas of employment law that are common in many countries around the world are the establish the payment of a minimum wage, limitations of hours that can be worked by an individual, restrictions on the work of underage persons, guarantees of workplace safety, and protection from indiscriminate firing. Employment laws regarding a minimum wage were first established in the United States in 1938. Most of the industrialized nations have established minimum wage laws, while underdeveloped countries lack these protective employment laws. The employment law which established an eight hour work day as the standard developed during the 1840s. These employment laws started as an attempt to protect underage children from the unscrupulous practices of factory owners and overseers. The eight hour work day established by these labor laws were much lower than the standard number of hours which had been common, which reached as high as sixteen hours of more following the Industrial Revolution. Work place safety standards in the United States are established under the employment law which established OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The first employment laws governing workplace safety were establish in England in 1802.

Employment law dealing specifically with children’s rights represent an outgrowth of the movement for universal schooling and worker’s rights. Child labor is generally seen as exploitative, but unfortunately much of it happens outside of the reach of officials charged with enforcing employment law. Despite the attention paid to children working in sweatshops, mot of the violations of these employment laws take place in informal settings, such as children working in the home, selling items on street corners, or working in agriculture.

Tax Laws

Laws are the methods by which social order is enforced. Laws shape almost every aspect of modern life across the world, independent of social status, location, age, wealth, or any factor that may differentiate one person from another. Each country has a different way in which the law for that country is devised, as well as what is guaranteed in the code of law. Laws are generally meant to ensure rights, wither those of individuals, groups of people, or the government. There are several common areas of laws that transcend most systems. These sections are criminal law, constitutional law, contract law, tort law, property laws, and equity and trust laws. Many people do not realize it, but anyone who has ever worked, even if for just a single hour, has been affected by constitutional law.

Constitutional law is normally considered to entail the body of laws which affects the legal rights of individuals in regard to the government, as well as the actions that governments are allowed to engage in. Constitutional law is largely influenced by John Locke’s theorem that says individuals can do anything not prohibited by law, but governments may not take any actions the laws do not proscribe. The most pervasive area of constitutional law is tax law. In the United States tax laws are passed by the House of Representatives. When writing the Constitution the Founding Fathers decided to keep the “power of the purse strings” with the part of the national government that would be most closely connected to the people. Tax law is considered the purview of the federal government by in Article II, Section 8. Tax laws can also be implemented by individual states depending upon their particular state constitutions. Local, state, and federal tax laws are passed every budget year in order to finance the current budget. Governments pass tax laws levying different rates on income and wealth, capital gains, retirement pension, social security contributions, inheritances, gifts received, and consumption or sales taxes which govern individuals, as well as tax laws which affect the earning of corporations, limited liability corporations, and partnerships.

Introductions to tax laws can be attained from both law schools and from business schools offering Masters in Taxation. Some schools offer the ability to focus on international, foreign, or domestic tax law. People who study tax law in law schools have two different routes available to them after earning their law degrees. Some elect to serve as tax consultants, while others become involved in tax litigation. Tax lawyers engaged in litigation often work in cases involving the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS. The study of tax law in a business school setting may prove invaluable for a person who wishes to become a Certified Public Accountant. Agents enrolled to service for the IRS often have a background in a field related to tax law. If they do not have prior exposure to tax law, they acquire a through knowledge soon after beginning work there.

Internet Poses Challenge to Traditional Definitions of Law

Laws are the methods by which social order is enforced. Laws shape almost every aspect of modern life across the world, independent of social status, location, age, wealth, or any factor that may differentiate one person from another. Each country has a different way in which the law for that country is devised, as well as what is guaranteed in the code of law. Laws are generally meant to ensure rights, wither those of individuals, groups of people, or the government. There are several common areas of laws that transcend most systems. These sections are criminal law, constitutional law, contract law, tort law, property laws, and equity and trust laws. Traditional understanding of law has been challenged by the growth of the Internet. Laws have not yet managed to react to the sweeping changes that have accompanied the Internet. Law has to adapt to a world in which national borders are declining in importance to legal issues. Internet law has been struggling to catch up to reality since the inception of the Internet.

For a purchase made over the Internet, laws from three different nations may affect the transaction: the laws in effect where the purchaser is using a computer, the laws of the counter where the server is located, and the country from which the item is bought. Internet law has not yet determined a definitive answer to which countries contract laws would over the transaction. Until a firm Internet law is established to deal wit issues of libel and slander, tort law is especially fragile. Tort laws are among the areas where there is the greatest variation from country to country. Until there is a system of Internet laws which is universally agreed to, speech that would be protected under one country’s law may open a person to a law suit from a resident of another country.

It is possible that Internet laws may develop independently of efforts to establish even a single internationally Internet law. The denizens of the Internet have shown a tendency to police themselves. Despite claims that the Internet would be a wild west show with no standards of decency, most websites and Internet users follow unwritten Internet laws. Internet forums have copied one aspect of the wild west from before law was firmly established and provided the basis for later justice: vigilantism. The “criminal” on these forums are referred to as “trolls.” These trolls attempt to arouse anger or other from emotions from other forum users. They accomplish this by posting outlandish or inflammatory statements to try to get attention. While some people, “victims,” fall prey to these tricks, more experienced users often respond by informing other users of an attempted trolling. These more experience users serve as police. Many forums also have moderators. These moderators have the ability to “ban” users. These ban can be seen as punitive actions, because they remove the troll from general society, just as prisons remove criminals from general society.