Opinion ID: 588159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 34 Section 924(c) evolved through a circuitous process of legislative activity concerning law enforcement and gun control in 1967 and 1968. In 1967, Congress took up various anti-crime measures urged by the Johnson administration. 3 Hearings in both houses produced a consensus that dramatic action at the federal level to strengthen law enforcement and curb crime was necessary. Several bills were introduced in the House and the Senate on this theme. One of these, H.R. 5384, restructured federal regulation of the ownership and use of firearms. Two others, H.R. 5037 and S. 917, concerned a wide variety of criminal and law enforcement topics, ranging from electronic surveillance to habeas corpus. These latter two bills became the bases of omnibus crime acts passed in both houses. 35 The House passed its omnibus act first, the Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1967. 4 The Senate omnibus bill borrowed from the House the provisions of H.R. 5384, which related to federal gun control, and enacted them as Title IV of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (the Omnibus Act). 5 Almost as soon as the new gun control provisions became law, they were amended by the Gun Control Act of 1968 (the Gun Control Act) which contained § 924(c). 6 This Act was also based on the early House gun control bill, H.R. 5384, but was given new vigor by the tragic events of 1968. 36 Section 924(c) appears at first blush to have sprung Athena-like from the head of its sponsor in the House during debates on the Gun Control Act. In reality, its birthing was considerably more protracted. The legislation whose purpose it expressed so clearly was the product of extensive deliberation and the historical circumstances of 1968. Taken with the language and structure of the statute itself, this context convinces me enhancing penalties for the use of firearms in the commission of crimes went to the heart of legislative objectives that year. 7 37