Did the Republican Party favor gun control laws in the 1960s?
Since the late 1960s, the Republican Party has taken an increasingly hard line against gun-control measures. In 1964, its national platform didn't mention guns. In California in 1967, amid concern about the Black Panthers' activism, it embraced a repeal of the state's open-carry law, signed into law by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.
The following year it advocated control of guns' "indiscriminate availability" while also acknowledging the right to bear arms. In 1972, the platform again acknowledged this right, while also promoting gun crimes prosecution. In 1976, Republicans came out against a federal firearms registry. In 1980, the party called to repeal parts of the 1968 Gun Control Act, which its members had helped pass.
By 2016, the party was decidedly against most gun regulations, focused on a citizen's right to purchase and carry firearms.
