ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE (1929)
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Source: 1780farmhouse.com
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BackgroundOn February 14th, 1929, Chicago gang leaders opened fire on seven members of the North Side gang, in what was then considered the most cold-blooded massacre in the history of the crime underworld. Men disguised as policemen murdered the seven gang members, and the killing stunned the citizens of Chicago. It became the most notorious gang killing of the Prohibition Era, and cast Al Capone into national spotlight. Fear and public outcry caused by crimes such as this raised a call to action, which was what arguably catalyzed the Gun Control Act of 1934. The NFA taxed the transport and creation of the specific firearms that the act picked out. It also mandated a registration of NFA firearms with the Secretary of Treasury. Regulated firearms include shotguns and rifles having barrels less than eighteen inches in length, machine guns, and firearm mufflers and silencers. While the NFA was enacted by Congress as an exercise of its authority to tax, as the legislative history of the law discloses, its underlying purpose was to curtail, if not to prohibit, transactions in NFA firearms.
RESPONSE
John Miller, who wrote for the Chicago American at the time, said when he arrived on the scene that: "Sprawled grotesquely at the base of the bullet-riddled stone wall were six distorted bodies; a seventh lay slumped over a wooden chair. One of the officers called out, 'This one's Pete Gusenberg, an ex-con and the chief gunner for the Drucci-Moran gang. Here's Al Weinshank, the North Side booze runner, and Artie Davis from the West Side mob. And this was James Clark, Bugs Moran's brother-in-law. Here what's left of Doc Schwimmer.' The other mobster was Frank Gusenberg, the only one still alive. He died within half an hour without giving the police any information. Although it was assumed that the murders had been ordered by Al Capone, no one was ever convicted of the crime. 
Source: spartacus-educational.com
Al Capone
Source: biography.com
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Source: Chicago Tribune
Source: atf.org
ON PROHIBITION
The era of prohibition (which restricted alcohol) ushered in a time when alcohol was bought and sold illegally. The start of the chicago gang wars were thought to have been caused by the death of a bootlegger named dion o'banion, who was shot outside of his florist shop in 1926. Members of his gang thought that the death had been caused by al capone, a rival bootlegger, and they attacked capone's headquarters with machine-gun fire. This conflict escalated and within a span of a few years, over 500 gangsters were killed in the city, with firearms. The st. Valentine's day massacre was the most devastating event that occurred in this war and it is important to note because it highlights the disorder and death caused by corrupt gun usage. Source: Investigation Discovery
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