I’ve been asked by a number of people to lay out my own suggestions for how to deal with the gun violence problem in the United States. After much consideration, here they are. They include original ideas of my own, as well as ideas and suggestions culled from many hours of research and discussion.
A few caveats before we begin. First, I’m not a lawyer or a constitutional scholar, just an opinionated layman, so I’m sure some of these suggestions are probably infeasible or unrealistic. Second, I want to say in advance that while I am in favor of reducing gun violence, this does not represent any sort of an endorsement on my part of the premise put forward by some that gun violence is increasing or becoming an “epidemic” of some sort, based on high-profile mass shooting events. Third, the absence of any provision or idea on this list may or may not indicate that I don’t support it.
For greater clarify, I’ve divided my recommendations into three sections: firearms, gunowners and society. They are not listed in any particular order.
Firearms
F1. Make illegal all weapons, weapon systems and devices that enable “bump firing” of semi-automatic rifles that use a loophole to allow them to operate in a fully automatic mode despite not being covered by the restrictions of the National Firearms Act.
F2. Impose a magazine capacity limit, which should be somewhere in the range of 20 to 30 cartridges. Guns with 100-cartridge magazines are unnecessary and make it difficult to take down a criminal intent on mayhem. Conversely, many firearms are designed with magazines with more than 10 cartridges as standard equipment; a 10-cartridge magazine is not “high capacity”.
F3. Eliminate all laws that prohibit specific firearms of any general legally-allowed class based on manufacturer names or model numbers, or hand-picked “features”, until and unless specific evidence can be provided to show that the weapons covered under these provisions are responsible for a disproportionate amount of violence.
F4. Research and implement features that improve the traceability of firearms and spent ammunition without impeding their effectiveness.
Gunowners
G1. Eliminate the “gun show loophole”, which is really more accurately called the “private sales loophole”. Any transfers of firearms should require the same background check that an FFL must carry out. An exemption could be made for transfers between immediate family members.
G2. Institute mandatory safety and handling training as a condition of firearm ownership. Training should be provided by the government, paid for by a tax on firearms and/or ammunition. Periodic recertification, such as every three years, should be required. Federal oversight should be instituted to prevent abuses of the system, such as allowing people to skip the training, or using the requirement as an excuse to make gun ownership difficult or impossible.
G3. Institute additional training and safety requirements for concealed carry.
G4. Impose a loss of the right to use firearms for any alcohol- or drug-related conviction that would result in the suspension of a driving license.
G5. Pass legislation prohibiting the publication of any personal information about gun owners as a result of adherence to the background check or training provisions.
G6. Prohibit gun ownership by those with serious mental health issues. (I realize this is particularly swampy ground, and the devil would be in the details, but something must be done in this area.)
G7. Require gunowners who live with juveniles to keep all firearms locked up or out of reach. Hold them criminally responsible for violence committed by such juveniles unless they can show that a reasonable effort was made to avoid access that the juvenile was able to circumvent.
G8. Mandate that gunowners report all thefts of firearms, and that law enforcement officials take such reports seriously (you’d be surprised.)
Society
S1. Implement mandatory basic firearm awareness safety training in all elementary schools, explaining the basic dangers of firearms, what to do when a child encounters one, and what not to do.
S2. Increase training for teachers, day school providers, health care workers and others in places that experience a disproportionate number of mass shootings on how to deal with these attacks.
S3. Taken directly from President Obama: “Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.” Increase education about how to handle firearms in the same way that we encourage responsibility when it comes to drinking or handling babies.
S4. Implement fair market gun and ammunition buyback programs to allow those who no longer want to own firearms or ammo an alternative to selling them on the open market.
S5. End the “War on Certain Types of Drugs”, which is responsible for a large proportion of gun violence, and takes up space in detention facilities that would be better used for violent offenders.
S6. Impose mandatory reporting by mental health professionals of patients who pose a risk to themselves or others, and confiscation of firearms from these individuals until the threat has passed. To prevent abuse, this should require a court order.
S7. Severely restrict the acceptability of “stand your ground” laws outside the home, where they appear to be an open invitation to abuse and unprovable self-defense claims. Institute limitations on the ability of criminals who invade homes to sue homeowners who defend themselves.
S8. Substantially increase funding for studies of mental health and suicide prevention. Increase in-paitent and out-patient facilities where necessary.
S9. Devote significantly more resources to anti-gang campaigns. Education, counselling, facilities. Much of our gun violence is in the inner cities.
S10. Pass laws mandating maximum response times for emergency calls (under normal circumstances) in all areas where personal protection firearms are either prohibited or for which it is extremely difficult to obtain permits. If individuals are not allowed to protect themselves, the police must be made accountable for doing so.
S11. Toughen sentences for offenders who use guns in violent crime. Severaly stiffen requirements for early release of violent convicts.
S12. Increase funding to combat illegal weapon trafficking into the United States.
Re-opened at request of OP.
Perknose
Forum Director
A few caveats before we begin. First, I’m not a lawyer or a constitutional scholar, just an opinionated layman, so I’m sure some of these suggestions are probably infeasible or unrealistic. Second, I want to say in advance that while I am in favor of reducing gun violence, this does not represent any sort of an endorsement on my part of the premise put forward by some that gun violence is increasing or becoming an “epidemic” of some sort, based on high-profile mass shooting events. Third, the absence of any provision or idea on this list may or may not indicate that I don’t support it.
For greater clarify, I’ve divided my recommendations into three sections: firearms, gunowners and society. They are not listed in any particular order.
Firearms
F1. Make illegal all weapons, weapon systems and devices that enable “bump firing” of semi-automatic rifles that use a loophole to allow them to operate in a fully automatic mode despite not being covered by the restrictions of the National Firearms Act.
F2. Impose a magazine capacity limit, which should be somewhere in the range of 20 to 30 cartridges. Guns with 100-cartridge magazines are unnecessary and make it difficult to take down a criminal intent on mayhem. Conversely, many firearms are designed with magazines with more than 10 cartridges as standard equipment; a 10-cartridge magazine is not “high capacity”.
F3. Eliminate all laws that prohibit specific firearms of any general legally-allowed class based on manufacturer names or model numbers, or hand-picked “features”, until and unless specific evidence can be provided to show that the weapons covered under these provisions are responsible for a disproportionate amount of violence.
F4. Research and implement features that improve the traceability of firearms and spent ammunition without impeding their effectiveness.
Gunowners
G1. Eliminate the “gun show loophole”, which is really more accurately called the “private sales loophole”. Any transfers of firearms should require the same background check that an FFL must carry out. An exemption could be made for transfers between immediate family members.
G2. Institute mandatory safety and handling training as a condition of firearm ownership. Training should be provided by the government, paid for by a tax on firearms and/or ammunition. Periodic recertification, such as every three years, should be required. Federal oversight should be instituted to prevent abuses of the system, such as allowing people to skip the training, or using the requirement as an excuse to make gun ownership difficult or impossible.
G3. Institute additional training and safety requirements for concealed carry.
G4. Impose a loss of the right to use firearms for any alcohol- or drug-related conviction that would result in the suspension of a driving license.
G5. Pass legislation prohibiting the publication of any personal information about gun owners as a result of adherence to the background check or training provisions.
G6. Prohibit gun ownership by those with serious mental health issues. (I realize this is particularly swampy ground, and the devil would be in the details, but something must be done in this area.)
G7. Require gunowners who live with juveniles to keep all firearms locked up or out of reach. Hold them criminally responsible for violence committed by such juveniles unless they can show that a reasonable effort was made to avoid access that the juvenile was able to circumvent.
G8. Mandate that gunowners report all thefts of firearms, and that law enforcement officials take such reports seriously (you’d be surprised.)
Society
S1. Implement mandatory basic firearm awareness safety training in all elementary schools, explaining the basic dangers of firearms, what to do when a child encounters one, and what not to do.
S2. Increase training for teachers, day school providers, health care workers and others in places that experience a disproportionate number of mass shootings on how to deal with these attacks.
S3. Taken directly from President Obama: “Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.” Increase education about how to handle firearms in the same way that we encourage responsibility when it comes to drinking or handling babies.
S4. Implement fair market gun and ammunition buyback programs to allow those who no longer want to own firearms or ammo an alternative to selling them on the open market.
S5. End the “War on Certain Types of Drugs”, which is responsible for a large proportion of gun violence, and takes up space in detention facilities that would be better used for violent offenders.
S6. Impose mandatory reporting by mental health professionals of patients who pose a risk to themselves or others, and confiscation of firearms from these individuals until the threat has passed. To prevent abuse, this should require a court order.
S7. Severely restrict the acceptability of “stand your ground” laws outside the home, where they appear to be an open invitation to abuse and unprovable self-defense claims. Institute limitations on the ability of criminals who invade homes to sue homeowners who defend themselves.
S8. Substantially increase funding for studies of mental health and suicide prevention. Increase in-paitent and out-patient facilities where necessary.
S9. Devote significantly more resources to anti-gang campaigns. Education, counselling, facilities. Much of our gun violence is in the inner cities.
S10. Pass laws mandating maximum response times for emergency calls (under normal circumstances) in all areas where personal protection firearms are either prohibited or for which it is extremely difficult to obtain permits. If individuals are not allowed to protect themselves, the police must be made accountable for doing so.
S11. Toughen sentences for offenders who use guns in violent crime. Severaly stiffen requirements for early release of violent convicts.
S12. Increase funding to combat illegal weapon trafficking into the United States.
Re-opened at request of OP.
Perknose
Forum Director
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