State handgun purchase laws before 1968 Gun Control Act

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State handgun purchase laws before 1968 Gun Control Act

On another thread about Oswald and the guns that he purchased. I found this Texas law from 1963 or before.

Texas handgun purchase law

http://jfkfiles.blogspot.com/2010/08/oswalds-mail-order-revolver-purchase.html

"Texas law states that one who wishes to purchase a pistol or handgun must first obtain from a justice of the peace, county judge, or district judge of the county of his residence a certificate of good character."


What other handgun laws do you recall before 1968?
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In 1965,,,

In 1965 in Oklahoma,,,
I walked into a Western Auto store,,,
I had just turned 14 and had some birthday money.

I placed the two $20's on the counter,,,
And bought a .22 cowboy revolver from them.

No paperwork required at all,,,
But the clerk did call my Mom to ask if it was okay.

Aarond

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In 1965 in Oklahoma,,,I walked into a Western Auto store,,,
Same basic thing here....but it was in Ohio.
Put my money on the counter of a Western Auto store, walked out with my rifle. A few months later, I repeated the process at that store with my first handgun. Ahhhhhhh back when I could buy .22 ammo at Woolworth's 5 & 10.
As I recall, my first Mosin Nagant rifle cost me a whopping $10 in the 1960s.
 
Same basic thing here....but it was in Ohio.
Put my money on the counter of a Western Auto store, walked out with my rifle. A few months later, I repeated the process at that store with my first handgun. Ahhhhhhh back when I could buy .22 ammo at Woolworth's 5 & 10.
As I recall, my first Mosin Nagant rifle cost me a whopping $10 in the 1960s.
Wow! How much was the ammo for that Mosin?
 
I dunno about the Mosin ammo,,,

Wow! How much was the ammo for that Mosin?

I dunno about the Mosin ammo,,,
But ammo for the British .303 I ordered the same way was .04 per round.

IIRC the rifle ordered from the Alden's Catalog was $14.95 plus some shipping,,,
We weren't home when the mailman came by with it,,,
So he propped it up by our front door.

The army surplus store down the road would sell me .303 and 8mm ammo,,,
4 cents for the .303 and 5 (or 7) cents for 8mm but you had to buy 5 of each.

Dang but I miss the 60's. ;)

Aarond

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In 1955, in Greensboro, North Carolina, I bought a Winchester .22 LR at a Western Auto at age 13, with no parent or any other relative or adult present! Can I go with Marty McFly back there? :D
 
NJ required a police issued permit for each handgun as far back as 1966.
 
Back in the early sixties, most surplus ammo ran about $6/100. Usually in the ad along with the rifle.
 
I walked into a hardware store, think it was a big chain, don't remember, and bought a surplus 9mm Astra for 20 bucks...had to fabricate a part to make it shoot without firing the whole magazine with one pull. Today there is a 'stigma' to do with firearms that took politicians a lot of work to attain, this I am sure made the firearms industry today as large as it is today...not so sure I like the turning of a 'tool' into a toy but it is what it is, and, I am a part of it
 
LI NY of all places during the 60s walk in local hardware store and buy a gun or just look at the latest Winchester or Remington 22. :)

Ron
 
Alabama had a state waiting period, two or three days.
It lasted well past GCA 68. Even in the pre-instant check Brady days with 5 day federal wait, we still had to fill out the card to go to the sheriff. It faded out somewhere in there and we are phone and go.
 
Off topic per handgun purchase laws pre 1968, but interesting as far as mail order sales of rifles/shotguns.

Take a look at the old Christmas catalogs at
http://www.wishbookweb.com/

Oldest Sears Christmas catalog there is from 1937.

1962 Sears mail order catalog, pg 275 has Springfield '03's for $49.

1966 Sears catalog, pg 435 has a 30-30 for $99.88.

1968 Sears catalog doesn't seem to have any guns.

1969 says have to pick it up in person.


More there for a full dose of nostalgia.
 
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Pre 1968 in California, long guns were cash and carry. Handguns required some type of background check and registration that, if memory serves, took about three days. Then the selling store would get back two little strips of paper (about ½” x 6”) to confirm that it was registered with the state. One paper strip of the registration for the buyer and one for the store. Then you could pick up the gun. I think California had handgun registration since about the 1930s.

As a side note; I understand that a gun never gets removed from California’s AFS (Automated Firearms System) so it makes me wonder how many hundreds of thousands of the guns in their AFS no longer exist, have been sold to other people or (like mine) are no longer in the state.
 
California had an waiting period as early as 1923
One day 1923
Three days 1955
Five days 1965
Fifteen days 1975

Source: (Google "in the 1960's waiting periods for handguns" )
Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist By Richard Feldman
Google Books


New York State a permit was needed since 1911 known as the "Sullivan Law"



New Jersey had a 24 hour waiting period as early as 1924. And the handgun had to be registered at the point of sale. Also a permit to carry concealed was now needed. It is safe to assume it was legal to open carry back then.

https://cemeterycas.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/when-did-new-jersey-become-so-anti-gun-part-deux/
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Open carry was seen as the law-abiding citizens way to carry. Only criminals hid their guns in their pants and under shirts in those days.

That mentality has certainly changed hasn't it!
 
Nobody that I knew prior to 1968 owned a handgun. TN had a 15 day waiting period on handguns prior to the Brady Bill. The law was designed to allow for a background check locally and you could get very quick background checks done at gunshows then (30 minute kind of turnaround) which allowed for you to buy and leave the show with the gun. With the NICs check, the waiting period has become mute and the waiting period is not required. Don't know if it is a "law" but one pawnshop I visit says they hold used guns that they sell to allow for the local pd to check if the gun is stolen.

Since I live in the southern part of TN, many prior to 1968 would buy in GA to avoid the TN waiting period.
 
I found this Texas law from 1963 or before.

Texas handgun purchase law

http://jfkfiles.blogspot.com/2010/08...-purchase.html

"Texas law states that one who wishes to purchase a pistol or handgun must first obtain from a justice of the peace, county judge, or district judge of the county of his residence a certificate of good character."

What other handgun laws do you recall before 1968?

Such a law (if it ever existed) was certainly repealed by 1967, when I bought my first handgun in Texas.
 
I remember seeing 98 mauser's muzzle down in a cardboard barrel at the local surplus store 15.00 cash and carry in about 65 or so !
 
"Texas law states that one who wishes to purchase a pistol or handgun must first obtain from a justice of the peace, county judge, or district judge of the county of his residence a certificate of good character."
I strongly suspect that this law was passed shortly after the civil war and selectively enforced...
 
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