Thursday, August 27, 2015

                                    GUNS. AGAIN.                              


Another day, another senseless incident of gun violence. This time, a reporter and a member of her news crew were murdered on-air by a disgruntled former employee.
When will we ever have an honest conversation about our obsession with guns?
Seeing how the right to bear arms is written in our Constitution, it would be a tough sell to get rid of all our guns. (Oh, and the crybabies at the NRA and various gun lobbies would naturally have something to say, as well).
I have, however, been a proponent of a buy-back program which would rid us of the excess, while maintaining the current Castle Doctrine laws ~ citizens would be allowed to keep a certain amount of guns in their house to protect against intruders. A concept that rarely ever plays out in real life ~ studies show that when guns are kept in the house, they are overwhelmingly used against others who live within the house ~ domestic abuse, suicide, or "accidental" firings.
My plan would be as follows:
1. Set a number of guns each person is allowed to own.
2. A government buy-back program for all legal guns that surpass that amount, as well as any illegal guns.
3. Gun owners would have to register and insure all guns, and go through a licensing process similar to driving a car. 
4. Create a national data base similar to car owners for gun owners.
5. Gun owners would not be allowed to take their guns outside their homes unless they are: A. Selling the gun. B. Having the gun repaired. C. Going to a gun range. D. Chasing an intruder who is/was in the act of committing a crime inside the house.
6. Gun owners would be allowed to visit a gun range once a month, but they must record their activity online with the data base ~ once from home before they leave, again when they enter and leave the gun range, then finally when back home.
7. While in transit to and from the range, all guns must have the safeties on, be secured in a locked box, and stored in the trunk at all times.
8. If any of the above rules are broken, stiff monetary fines will be assessed, and gun privileges will be suspended for a predetermined length of time.
9. If a gun is used outside the home in commission of a crime, heavier monetary fines will be instilled, your gun rights will be removed forever, and you will serve a mandatory prison term.
As far as I can tell, the only way to make this work is to treat guns like cars, and scare the owners with hefty fines that would severely damage their personal finances. Only the treat of potential bankruptcy and prison will force people to be accountable.
And no, these measures will not stop "everyone" ~ society will always have a small amount of people who are going to break the law no matter what ~ but these rules will drastically drop the number of murders, suicides, and other fatalities in the country.
For those of you who still insist that "people" kill, and not "guns", I ask you to honestly imagine a scenario where there is a mass murder using a knife, bat, pipe, or other implement. One such incident did occur in China, I believe, a few  years back. "ONE" incident. Not a series of weekly events as we see in this country. Guns can kill a large number of people ~ instantly, and from a distance ~ where other such weapons cannot. A victim also has a greater chance of protecting themselves, whether it be fighting back, fleeing the scene, or merely locking a door and calling the police.
The nation has a problem that needs to be honestly addressed.