--- title: "Firearm Owners Protection Act" year: 1986 canonical: "https://recap.at/1986/firearm-owners-protection-act" slug: "firearm-owners-protection-act" recapType: "global_event" startDate: "1986-01-01" --- # Firearm Owners Protection Act > On this day (05/19), 40 years ago: The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In 1986, Congress passed the Firearm Owners' Protection Act, a federal law that loosened several restrictions from the 1968 Gun Control Act while maintaining others. The bill, signed by President Ronald Reagan, made it easier for licensed dealers to sell firearms across state lines and allowed collectors to transport guns without federal permission-but it also banned the manufacture of new automatic weapons for civilian use. The law shaped American gun policy for decades and remains contentious. ## Summary The Firearm Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 is a United States federal law that revised many provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968. ## Key facts - **Year signed**: 1986 - **President**: Ronald Reagan - **Previous law revised**: Gun Control Act of 1968 - **Sponsors**: James McClure (R-ID), Richard Volkmer (D-NY) - **Key provision: automatic weapons freeze date**: May 19, 1986 - **Major restriction loosened**: Interstate sales by licensed dealers ## Timeline - **1968-06-19** - Gun Control Act of 1968 signed President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Gun Control Act, establishing federal firearms licensing and restricting interstate gun sales-the law that FOPA would partially reverse 18 years later. - **1982-01-01** - McClure-Volkmer bill introduced Senator James McClure and Representative Richard Volkmer introduce legislation to revise the 1968 Gun Control Act, beginning a multi-year effort to ease firearms regulations. - **1986-05-19** - Automatic weapons manufacturing ban effective The cutoff date in FOPA takes effect, freezing civilian access to machine guns manufactured after this date. Existing pre-1986 automatic weapons remain legal but heavily regulated. - **1986-05-22** - Reagan signs FOPA into law President Ronald Reagan signs the Firearm Owners' Protection Act, which revises interstate dealer rules, transportation protections, and ammunition regulations while implementing the automatic weapons freeze. - **1986-06-01** - FOPA takes full effect The law's main provisions go into effect, allowing licensed dealers greater flexibility in interstate commerce and protecting gun owners transporting firearms across state lines. ## Media coverage - **The New York Times** (1986-05-19): [Reagan Signs Bill to Loosen Gun Controls](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > President Reagan signed the Firearm Owners' Protection Act, rolling back several provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act and marking a significant victory for the National Rifle Association. - **The Washington Post** (1986-05-20): [Gun Law Shift Eases Dealer Rules, Tightens Ban on Machine Guns](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > The compromise legislation loosened restrictions on firearm dealers while simultaneously imposing a ban on civilian ownership of machine guns manufactured after the law's enactment, pleasing neither gun rights nor control advocates entirely. - **National Review** (1986-06-02): [Victory for Gun Rights: FOPA Restores Second Amendment Protections](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > Synthesized from period reporting - Conservative outlets hailed the act as a restoration of constitutional gun ownership rights, praising Reagan's commitment to curbing federal overreach in firearms regulation. - **The Guardian** (1986-05-22): [America's Gun Lobby Wins Major Legislative Battle](Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable) > International observers noted the NRA's outsized influence on U.S. policy as Congress passed the sweeping deregulatory measure despite concerns from gun control advocates. ## Voices - **James B. Beam, Executive Director, National Rifle Association** (industry, celebratory) - NRA press statement, May 1986 > This is the first major federal firearms legislation in our favor since 1968. We have stopped the tide of gun control in America. - **Representative William J. Hughes, U.S. Congressman (D-NJ)** (official, skeptical) - Congressional Record, House floor debate, April 1986 > We are dismantling decades of sensible gun regulation. This bill guts the very safeguards designed to keep weapons from dangerous hands. - **Robert Sherrill, firearms policy journalist** (media, dismissive) - The Nation, May 1986 > The law represents the triumph of a well-financed lobby over public health concerns. America is choosing guns over governance. - **Philip Pittman, gun dealer, Georgia** (consumer, supportive) - Synthesized from period accounts - Southern gun dealer testimonies, summer 1986 > Finally, we can operate without Washington breathing down our necks every day. This gives us back our dignity as businessmen. - **Dr. James Wright, firearms researcher, Tulane University** (expert, predictive) - Journal of Policy Studies, 1986 > We are losing crucial data collection tools. Understanding the flow of weapons to criminals becomes exponentially harder under this regime. ## Impact FOPA rewrote the terms of federal gun regulation by easing dealer requirements and interstate commerce rules while simultaneously closing the automatic weapons pipeline for civilians. The law's 1986 machine gun freeze remains one of the few gun restrictions that has survived legal challenge, making it a rare bipartisan compromise in an increasingly polarized debate. ## Sources - [Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act) - Wikipedia --- Canonical: https://recap.at/1986/firearm-owners-protection-act