Let’s Talk Guns, Now!
Should everyone be able to own a gun? Absolutely! Except those who shouldn’t!
I started these comments two months before Las Vegas. I rewrote them a few times. Several people read different iterations, pointed out flaws in my argument, or suggested better ways of making a point. I discussed it with a strong supporter of gun ownership who has good data on which to base his opinion. I have more questions now than when I started. Every time there is a mass shooting, one side of the issue calls for banning all guns and the other says it’s not a good time to discuss it. They’re both wrong. We shouldn’t ban all guns and there is never a bad time to discuss the issue.
The United States is an armed camp! We have 300 million guns in the country, 113 guns per 100 people.[i] The NRA spent $50 million on the 2016 campaign to ensure that politicians understood clearly that they mess with guns at their peril![ii] To be fair, the NRA also calls for strict enforcement of current gun laws and severe penalties for breaking those laws. It has enormous influence for an organization of only five million members. However, it has the money, a lot of it from gun manufacturers. We can do better.
Consider these five ideas: 1) we have a Second Amendment, 2) not everyone should be able to buy a gun, 3) some people use guns to kill others, 4) background checks aren’t very effective, 5) illegal guns are everywhere.
1)The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”…. I might argue syntax (or Article 1 of the Constitution[iii]), but SCOTUS ruled that we can’t take away a person’s right to defend their home. So, let’s not do that!
2) I agree that guns don’t kill people, but some people kill people with guns. So, let’s limit which people can own guns. People with mental issues should not own guns, and doctors should be able to report those people to authorities. Felons should not own guns. People under twenty-one shouldn’t own handguns.
You need a license to drive a car. That means you are16 years old, completed 50 hours of training, took a vision test, a written test and a driving test, why not require a license to purchase a gun? Your car must be registered, why not register guns? Why not require gun safety classes for gun ownership?
Most European countries require a license to purchase a gun, and the process is simple: show a need (hunting, sport shooting, etc). Then, interview with the local police to prove you aren’t a felon, submit a certificates from doctors stating that you are of sound mind, take a gun safety course, and show where you will lock up the gun if there are kids around. Gun owners tell us these steps are the start of a slippery slope of the government confiscating our weapons. I disagree. A recent poll indicates that for those who support unrestricted gun ownership, the issue is a main factor in determining how they vote. For those who oppose unfettered ownership, it’s hardly a consideration at all.[iv] Does our DNA include a heightened fear of government takeover? For some, evidently the fear is real.
Our friends to the north have a very similar frontier history as we do. They require permits to purchase firearms, ban almost all handguns and military type weapons, and limits ownership of other guns. In the US, 64% of all homicides are gun related, 31% in Canada, 13% in Australia, and 4.5% in England and Wales.[v]
3) The CDC tells us that there are 93 killings per day from guns, 12,000 homicides per year. On October 2, 2017, there were 59 just in Las Vegas. None of the guns used in that mass shooting should be legal. They are military grade weapons. Boxes of ammunition covered the floor of the hotel. Why not limit the amount of ammunition a person may purchase for a registered gun? Why not limit the number of bullets in a munitions clip? Why not track the number of guns a person purchases and include it in the background check? The questions keep coming!
4) As is so often the case, we have the cart before the horse. When you go to the gun store to buy a gun, you submit to a background check, which might take all of a half hour. They blocked two million people from buying guns, but didn’t identify people with mental problems. Eighty-nine percent of gun owners and non-gun owners alike agree that people with mental illnesses should not be able to purchase a gun according to a PEW study.[vi] Every time we have a mass shooting at a school or other public place, people ask why we allow a person with mental problems to own guns. I ask the same question. If the NRA took a strong position in favor of preventing people with mental issues from owning guns, it would be a win-win for them and the country.
5) The PEW study noted that most gun owners are in rural areas and identify as outdoor people. They aren’t the problem. Handguns on the streets are the problem. The law says you must be 21 years old to own a handgun. We know that 86% of juveniles in jail had owned a gun[vii] and that five out of six guns used by felons are purchased illegally. Most handguns are imported from countries that don’t let their own citizens own them; most go to criminals; street gangs. The evening news is like listening in on the 911 call-center. The NRA would do the country a great service if it supported laws that give hunters license to own guns and laws to get handguns off the streets.
Here is my take:
· Require licensing before gun purchases
· Restrict access to guns by people with mental issues
· Change the laws so that families can get treatment and, if required, hospitalization for those who have mental problems and allow doctors to report people who shouldn’t own guns. Change the HIPPA laws.
· Take handguns out of the hands of felons, young people, and aliens
· Ban all military type weapons. There is no reasonable reason to own them. You don’t use them to hunt.
· Set limits on the purchase of ammunition
· Stop the import of anything but sport guns – no military weapons or handguns
· Require licensing before gun purchases
· Require all gun purchases and trades, even within families, to go through a licensed dealer
· Require mandatory long jail sentences for any crime committed with a gun
For Americans, gun ownership is part of our history and our culture. Gun owners need to be convinced that simple steps to limit gun ownership are not a slippery slope to a total ban. Until we do that, criminal gun owners will control our city streets and our nation’s ethos. Daily killings and mass killings cannot become the norm for our society.
What do you think?
[i] Congressional Research Service - 2017
[ii] The NRA Placed Big Bets on the 2016 Election, and Won Almost All of Them – Mike Spies and Ashley Balcerzak – Open Secrets – 11/09/2016
[iii] Article One, U.S. Constitution – ‘To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia,” 1789
[iv] Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll – September 8, 2017
[vi] PEW Research – June 2017
[vii] U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - 2000
