GCA '68

W

w_houle

New member
This is going to be short on facts and long on opinion, but I'm doing it to educate myself.

GCA '68 had the effect of stopping the import of "Saturday Night Specials". This allowed companies such as Raven, Jennings, Lorcin et c. to fill the void in supply. To the best of my knowledge it's the reason that Glock doesn't have a .380 in the U.S. market. Now there are small pistols that are coming to market in smaller calibers.
Has something changed that I'm not aware of that allows these pistols to be imported to the U.S.?
 
It is not the caliber that determines if a handgun can be imported. It is based on a point system created to determine whether a particular gun is "sporting".

II. Firearms Laws
G. Federal Firearms Laws
6. The Points Systems of GCA '68


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Factoring Criteria for Weapons

Note: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reserves the right
to preclude importation of any revolver or pistol which achieves an
apparent qualifying score but does not adhere to the provisions of
section 925(d)(3) of Amended Chapter 44, Title 18, USC.

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PISTOL

Prerequisites

1. The pistol must have a positive manually operated safety device.
2. The combined length and height must not be less than 10" with
the neight (right angle measurement to barrel without magazine
or extension) being at least 4" and the length being at least 6".

Individual Characteristics Point value

Overall Length
For each 1/4" over 6" 1 pt

Frame Construction
Investment case or forged steel 15
Investment case or forged HTS alloy 20

Weapon Weight w/Magazine (unloaded)
Per ounce 1

Caliber
.22 short and .25 auto 0
.22 LR and 7.65mm to .380 auto 3
9mm parabellum and over 10

Safety Features
Locked breech mechanism 5
Loaded Chamber Indicator 5
Grip Safety 3
Magazine Safety 5
Firing Pin Block or Lock 10

Miscellaneous Equipment
External Hammer 2
Double Action 10
Drift Adjustable Target Sight 5
Click Adjustable Target Sight 10
Target Grips 5
Target Trigger 2

Qualifying score is 75 points

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Revolver

Prerequisites

1. Must pass safety test.
2. Must have overall frame (with conventional grips) length (not diagonal)
of 4 1/2" minimum.
3. Must have a barrel length of at least 3"

Individual Characteristics

Barrel Length (Muzzle to Cylinder Face)
Less than 4" 0
For each 1/4" over 4" 1/2

Frame Construction
Investment Cast or Forged Steel 15
Investment Cast or Forged HTS Alloy 20

Weapon Weight (Unloaded)
Per ounce 1

Caliber
.22 short to .25 acp 0
.22 LR and .30 to .38 S&W 3
.38 Special 4
.357 mag and over 5

Miscellaneous Equipment
Adjustable Target Sights 5
(drift or click)

Target Grips 5
Target Hammer and Target Trigger 5

Safety Test

A Double Action Revolver must have a safety feature which automatically
(or in a Single Action Revolver by manual operation) causes the hammer to
retract to a point where the firing pin does not rest upon the primer of
the cartridge. The safety device must withstand the impact of a weight
equal to the weight of the revolver dropping from a distance of 36" in a
line parallel to the barrel upon the rear of the hammer supr, a total of
5 times.

Qualifying score is 45 points.

ATF FORM 4590 (7570.5) (10-77) Edition of 5/74 may be used
Click to expand...

http://www.atf.gov/pub/treas_pub/assault_rifles/exh4.pdf

http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIG6.html
 
Now there are small pistols that are coming to market in smaller calibers.
Click to expand...
The key is that the points system applies ONLY to imported pistols. Guns made domestically are not subject to restriction per the points system. It's very likely that the domestic gun companies got a say in how the law was worded and used the opportunity to cut down on their competition a bit.

By the way, the '68 GCA had many other effects, some of which were far more onerous. Some are still law, some of the worst were repealed by the '86 FOPA but at the cost of preventing any more machineguns from entering the transferable market.
 
Could someone please show the stats on the effectiveness of the GCA '68? Surely the tradeoff of our freedoms resulted in a drop in murder and violent crimes, didn't it?
 
Can you see a significant drop in the homicide rate after 1968? I don't see a drop until 1975.

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