Should felons be allowed to have guns?

There has been a long standing tradition in the united states of prohibiting those convicted of a felonious crime from owning guns. Now at first glance this sounds reasonable, because of course we don’t want murders, rapists, and thieves to have guns. But what does it mean to be a felon?

The Gun Control Act of 1968 says it is illegal to transfer a firearm to someone who “is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” Notice there is no mention of the word felony ….

How many crimes were punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year in 1968? How many are there now?

There is some healthy skepticism about the governments desire and ability to ban and confiscate America’s firearms . For sure such a wide scale ban would be difficult to enforce….. what if instead they just kept expanding the definition of felon?

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