(Un)Happy Anniversary FOPA: Firearm Owners’ Protection Act

This past Thursday was the anniversary of a sad day in history.

On May 19, 1986, the so-called “Firearm Owners’ Protection Act” (a.k.a. McClure-Volkmer) was signed by president Ronald Reagan, making it the law of the land.

It has been 30 years now, and sadly it doesn’t look like FOPA is going anywhere anytime soon.

What most gun owners remember about FOPA is that it made it illegal for you and me to own a fully-automatic firearm manufactured after the date of enactment. Make sense? Of course not.

Thanks a lot, President Reagan. And thanks to NRA as well. That’s right, they supported the ill-named “Firearm Owners’ Protection Act.” In fact, they’re proud of it. In this 2011 blog post, they call it a victory.

As usual, the name of the law is the opposite of what the law actually does (as in “Patriot Act” or “Affordable Care Act”).

Let us observe a moment of silence before we give a collective shrug and meekly accept our fate.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.