The Gun Control Act of 1968 (Gun Control Act), codified principally at 18 U.S.C. §§ 921-931, is a foundational piece of federal firearms legislation. The Gun Control Act substantially revised and replaced the federal firearms restrictions contained in Title IV of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Crime Bill), Pub. L. No. 90-351. The Omnibus Crime Bill, in turn, repealed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, although many of the Federal Firearms Act's provisions were carried forward, with modifications, into the new statutory framework. The U.S. Supreme Court has described Title IV of the Omnibus Crime Bill as a recodification, with some modifications, of the Federal Firearms Act.
The Omnibus Crime Bill was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's broader “War on Crime” initiative rather than a comprehensive effort initially focused on federal firearms regulation. However, the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the spring and summer of 1968 increased congressional attention to firearms regulation. In Simpson v. United States, 435 U.S. 6 (1978), Justice Rehnquist's dissent observed that several firearms-control bills that had previously stalled in Congress were brought to the floor and enacted with “dramatic swiftness” following Senator Kennedy's assassination. The stated purpose of the Gun Control Act was to provide support to federal, state, and local law enforcement officials in combating crime and violence while avoiding undue or unnecessary federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms for lawful purposes. To that end, the Gun Control Act:
- Established a federal licensing system for manufacturers, importers, and dealers engaged in the firearms business and regulated the interstate and foreign commerce of firearms;
- Prohibited the sale or transfer of firearms to, and generally prohibited the receipt or possession of firearms by, certain categories of prohibited persons, including persons convicted of qualifying crimes and certain minors;
- Restricted the importation of firearms that were not recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes, a provision that was used to restrict the importation of certain inexpensive handguns commonly referred to as “Saturday Night Specials”; and
- Amended the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), including by expanding the NFA's definition of “firearm” to include “destructive devices” and modifying its registration and enforcement provisions.
[Last reviewed in August of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]