It seems that if you read enough comments/articles/etc. online, you get the sense that Americans are almost fanatical in their support of their 2nd Amendment rights. I'm not judging them either way on that, but it made me wonder: have Americans always been this passionate about their guns?
If I went back in time to the 1920's or 1930's and attempted to pass a law barring citizens from owning guns like the Thompson sub-machine gun, would their be mass protests like there would be today?
Funny you should phrase the question like you did. It turns out you don't have to go back in time to pass gun control in the 1930's. The National Firearms act of 1934 took care of that for you. It was in large part aimed at controlling the Thompson sub-machinegun. After the Saint Valentines day Massacre there was a large public outcry. The law was passed with a great deal of public support. In fact after the passage of the NFA of 1934 Roosevelt pushed for the NFA of 1938 which also had widespread public support. Karl T Frederick president of the National Rifle Association testifying before congress in support of the NFA of 1938 said “I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”
I can guarantee that if you tried to pass gun control legislation in the 1930's you would not have mass protests. Especially if it applied only to machineguns, sawed-off shotguns, silencers and other such weapons.