Life Before GCA '68
In 1966, just as anti-Vietnam War protests were starting to take off, I was not yet an adult. However, at a nearby discount store where my mother shopped every other week, they had something I just longed to have.
I had planned to slip away while mom shopped. She knew she could find me either in sporting goods or by the book section. I had planned to buy the rifle and wait for her by the comic books and present her with a fait accompli.
Unfortunately, excitement got the best of me and I spilled the idea in the parking lot as we walked towards the store. My head was filled with visions of how cool that rifle was and how all my friends would envy me.
Only Mom said no.
When she said it the way she did that day, I knew there was no arguing with her. I asked my father who said I should ask my mother. In trying to pin him down, he talked to her, heard her answer and said, "Not yet." I was crushed. I was bitter. I was just 12 years old.
Dad walked me into our suburban back yard and showed me why a .22 wasn't such a good idea. The BB gun I'd received at age 10 and worn out in just over a year had only once sent a BB between the fence boards. At that, I'd been lucky because Mrs. Hawkins had been watering her plants at the time and she was a rather... large target. But now dad was telling me that .22's could go through the fence and keep going.
If you've read this far, depending on your age, you may be wondering how a 12-year old boy could have bought a rifle by himself. Well, the truth is, in most states it was legal.
Get up off the floor.
I'm serious. Yes, it was legal for a 12 year old boy, heck even a 10 year old, to purchase a rifle if he had the cash, could reach the counter top and could carry it out of the store. Heck, some stores would forgo everything but having the cash. Of course a some stores might ask for a parental note or call the parents, just to be sure.
In fact, I recall going into a Conoco station in Ft. Worth with my father and seeing a small display case with western-style revolvers inside and some ammo stacked along one edge. The local hardware store was more fun as they had a wall of fishing gear and guns with a long display case full of handguns of all kinds. Just leave me there, looking, and I'd dream of owning one someday.
Believe it or not, you could order a rifle or pistol through the mail! Yep. Places like Numrich Arms (now http://www.e-gunparts.com/) could legally sell complete guns via mail order. Right to your door. No paperwork at all.
Sellers of guns did not need a special license to sell guns. They were considered just another product to sell. You'd find guns for sale in places like gas stations, hardware stores, Auto parts stores, Sears, Montgomery Wards and sometimes in beauty parlors. The latter were usually small purse guns like .25 Autos and .32 revolvers.
It was literally no different than buying a Black & Decker drill or a pair of pants. No forms filled out. Cash and carry. If you had the money to buy five guns at once, they'd ask you if you wanted help out to your car.
Heck, some states didn't even have prohibitions on felons owning guns.
True, some states had some age limits. As I recall, you had to be at least 12 to buy a rifle in Colorado and in other states 16 to buy a handgun. In some of the rural and good hunting areas, nobody looked twice if a youngster had an old .30-40 Krag Jorgensen strapped to his handlebars a week before deer season opened. Heck the school principals would keep them in racks in their offices until after school.
Some high-schools had ROTC rifle teams or their own regional rifle teams. Sure, many fired .22 rifles, but there were also .30 caliber leagues too. And problems with these students were minimal. I find it ironic that when guns were plentiful and as easy to acquire as buying a pipe wrench, there were fewer problems with them.
Those days are probably gone forever though. Too many kids today do not receive the kind of discipline and parental oversight as kids growing up much earlier decades. Too many kids today think violence makes them "tough guys" or more like adults. Our role models were guys like Roy Rogers or Audie Murphy. Their role models are flashy rappers with pimped out Escalades.
In early 1967, even in California, it was not against the law to carry a loaded handgun in the glovebox of your car. In an era when cars had no seat belts, kids weren't confined to car seats, and dashboards were made of painted steel, we managed to survive even having a handgun in the glovebox.
When we drove to California from Ft. Worth, times were certainly different. Mom tells me that my brother and I were asleep in the back seat when dad was pulled over in New Mexico for speeding. During that trip, dad kept a loaded S&W Victory Model in the glove box of our '57 Ford sedan. The N.M. troopers had seen the Texas plates of course. Walking up to the car they probably saw two young boys asleep in the back amongst the ice chest and pillows and relaxed somewhat.
Now, the reason I say life has changed is that the glove box was open so mom could rest her cold water there while she unwrapped a sandwhich for my dad. One trooper simply said, "Ma'am, would you mind closing the glovebox for me? We get a little nervous when folks have guns within reach." And that was that.
Amazing, isn't it?
Are there any parts of the U.S. that are still this relaxed about guns? I tend to doubt it, unless you know the officer involved. Perhaps Arizona and Nevada tend to be more relaxed since open carry is legal in many areas.
Now, I don't think I'd advocate a sudden, abrupt turnaround to those days. While it would be nice, I don't think it is really workable. Too many wanna-be tough guys out there who have no clue. And too many 15-18 years olds today don't know what responsibility means.
One thing is certain to me though. The so-called "Gun Control Act of 1968" has neither controlled crimes in which guns are used nor reduced the number of them. We've had over 40 years of these laws adding extra cost to the price of guns, burdening dealers with strict regulations and limiting our rights. And it doesn't work. It's time to revoke these laws.
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