Mass shootings in 2012 reignited the debate over legislation to
combat gun violence. Here's a look at laws already on the books
in the United States dealing with firearms. 1791 -- Second
Amendment: Congress ratifies the Second Amendment to the
Constitution, which reads that "A well regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." 1934 --
National Firearms Act: The law was designed to make it difficult
to obtain especially lethal guns. These would include preferred
weapons of the era's gangsters, like sawed-off long rifles or
shotguns and machine guns. It also regulated specialty weapons
concealed in canes, pens or other items. 1968 -- Gun Control Act
of 1968: Following the assassinations of President John F.
Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy,
Congress passed this law prohibiting convicted felons from
possessing firearms. It also required licenses to trade in guns
and created procedures to t