Gun control is too important a topic for a one liner or a
pithy image. These are my thoughts on gun control.
As soon as I heard about the shooting in Newtown, CT, I knew
it wouldn't be long before the self-righteous rage of liberals would be heard
on the social networks. Sure enough, within an hour of the first report, people
were posting little images comparing gun deaths in US against those in Europe. These
are a vocal minority and a special breed of hypocrite.
Let's, for now, forget the fact that the US is not Europe.
We are not part of the European Union. We have a constitution and a bill of
rights that govern us. The right to bear arms is protected. What Europe does
with their own laws has very little to do with what we should do.
It is incredibly hypocritical of anyone who waits until someone
murders a group of children before they get on Facebook screaming, "something
must be done." Where is your humanity when that many or more die every day
in hand gun violence around the US? Assault weapons are, statistically, a minimal
source of gun deaths in the US.
The far left liberals are using this tragedy to push their
own agendas. They don't care about people, they just want guns banned. If you
are one of these people and you want to ban guns, repeal the second amendment.
Don't try to backdoor your way in.
Would banning "assault weapons" and magazines over
10 rounds have stopped the Newtown shooter? Not at all. Forensic investigation
showed that he left many rounds in his spent magazines. That means he was
changing magazines more frequently than needed.
Would a revolver have slowed him down? Some, most likely,
but then he did have multiple weapons and didn't even bring all of them into
the school. If he had only hand guns at his disposal, how many could he have
hidden on his person?
On the flip side of the coin, are the far right
conservatives who say that any legislation affecting guns is unconstitutional. What
reasonable person would argue that mentally deranged people must not get their
hands on any kind of weapon? I hear daily from people who agree with that, but
are vehemently opposed to universal background checks. How do you reconcile
that?
As long as violent sociopaths have access to weapons, they
will kill people. A lack of socialization, genetics, and abuse are just some of
the things that can warp a person. Guns don't warp people, violent games don't
warp people and violent movies don't warp people.
People, who want to kill, will kill. If they don't have
access to semi-automatic rifles, they will use semi-automatic hand guns. Or
shot guns. Or revolvers. Or home-made bombs. Or hammers, axes and knives.
Banning any particular kind of gun (beyond the fully automatic
that are already banned) is destined to fail. There four main reasons why
banning weapons is a bad idea:
1.
As I started above, banning a rifle will do very
little to halt gun violence. The majority of murders in the US, as well as the
majority of suicides, are by hand gun. Statistically (USDOJ figures), less than
10% of violent crime involves any kind of firearm.
2.
The Second Amendment - If you are against private
gun ownership, i.e. you believe that
guns should be banned, then repeal the amendment. The constitution is the rule
of the land. It's not "just a law". It is the basis of all of our
laws. There is a very detailed process for repealing any amendment.
3.
Tradition - The US has a tradition of gun
ownership. Guns are used for hunting, self-defense and as collectors' items.
Parents pass weapons down to their children. It is an American tradition not to
be tossed aside lightly. As is obvious, this is a topic that divides the nation.
4.
Inertia - There are more than 300 million guns
in the US. Unless you confiscate every privately owned weapon, these 300
million weapons will continually recycle. Eventually, the number of privately
owned weapons will decline as the police and other organizations legally
confiscate them from criminals. Waiting 10s of years (or will it be hundreds of
years) to have any affect is quite stupid when there things we can do now that
will have an impact.
According to DOJ statistics, 80% of all weapons used in violent
criminal activity were acquired from relatives, friends or were illegally
acquired. Only 2% were acquired via flea markets and gun shows. These
statistics fly in the face of those who blame weapons legally acquired via
those routes. Slowing down or blocking sales via new laws is not helpful and
impact the financial health of those who sell via these means.
Another idea that keeps surfacing, even though federal law
bans it, is a mandatory national weapons registration database. Citizens who
own a gun would have to register it and report any transfer of ownership. This
is onerous and offensive to those who support the US constitution. It is an egregious
violation of privacy, not to mention that it is probably a violation of the
fourth amendment (guarding against unreasonable search and seizure). A state
database would be constitutional but has the same possibilities of abuse that led
to its prohibition by the federal government.
Having said that, a universal background check would prevent
those with violent backgrounds, or who have identified mental conditions, from
acquiring weapons. We must not allow any new laws or executive orders to
violate the constitution, especially when we are not properly enforcing those
laws we do have. How do we accommodate what is needed for gun control with the
protections inherent in the constitution?
We need to start licensing US Citizens who own and use
firearms. There is no reason the government needs to know what particular
weapons a citizen owns. A licensing program would provide background checks.
Licenses could be renewable every four or five years. Anyone buying a weapon
via any means would be required to show a valid weapon license. It would be
sort of like using a driver's license to buy liquor. If a gun were purchased at
a gun show, flea market, or gun store, the purchaser would be required to
provide a valid, non-expired firearms license.
Requirements to get a license could include mandatory
weapons training, gun safety, conflict resolution, non-lethal self-defense
training, and even include testing for knowledge of gun laws. This kind of a
license would be unfair to no one. Legal authorities would verify that a
licensee was not a felon, had not participated in any violent crimes and was
not being treated (or needing to be treated) for any mental conditions.
Would firearm licensing have stopped the Newtown shooter? Possibly.
He had gone shooting with his mother at gun ranges. If he had been required to
be licensed to shoot there, he would have been turned down for his mental
issues. If he hadn't been turned down for a license (for whatever reason), he
would have had additional education such as conflict resolution. No one can
truly say what would have happened under other circumstances. At a minimum, the
additional education may have made his mother more aware of her responsibility
in protecting access to her weapons.
Congress should follow at least one of Obama's executive orders and fund the CDC's investigation of gun violence. More data is never bad. That research could lead to fixes that we can't currently imagine but would be supported by everyone. And if it doesn't? At least we tried.
Congress also needs to step up and provide funding for mental health. We're stuck with Obamacare, might as well roll in mental health with it. Will it cost? Of course, but it won't cost anything compared to Obamacare.
Another idea that could help is for the ATF to track sales
volumes by weapon type from manufacturers and distributors. The ATF should
track gun and ammunition purchases. Records would be anonymous, but the government
would run data mining operations to find possible supply points to the black-market.
We need gun control. Not just to stop the tragedy of the occasional
mass shooting, but to stop the daily violence that takes so many lives across
the US. Banning the evil weapon du jour is not the answer. Violating an
individual's privacy is not the answer. Better training, licensing, and
tracking, along with a more consistent enforcement of existing laws, is the
answer to gun violence.
