“I have supported legislation in the past which would place reasonable and careful restrictions on the use of firearms, and I am co-sponsoring S.1… I believe this bill would impose necessary controls without unduly curtailing the use of firearms for legitimate sport shooting or hunting, and without curtailing the lawful activity of sport gun clubs.
Basically this legislation would only subject deadly weapons to the same control we have always imposed on automobiles, liquor or prescription drugs. The use and sale of these items are carefully regulated by Federal, State, and local government. The same should be true of firearms.” –Senator Robert F. Kennedy, May 2, 1967