Reasonable Gun Restrictions

In light of the most recent carnage wrought upon our country, the usual outcry for gun regulation seems like a simple solution.  In my experience, simple solutions to complex problems are extremely rare.  Somewhere between a total ban on gun ownership and rhetoric that accomplishes nothing, there are some things that can be done to improve the current situation.  Compromise is a term that has been dropped almost entirely from our national and legislative lexicons.  I think most would agree that we shouldn’t continue to ignore the daily gun violence in our cities and the occasional “nut-job” making a statement that so shocks our nation for brief periods immediately after that “statement.”  There are some things that are possible that will not solve the problem but would bring about some, albeit limited, improvement.

As a gun owner and concealed weapons permit holder I believe in the 2^nd amendment.  I believe that responsible citizens should have the right to self-preservation.  Those same responsible citizens should be able to own weapons that will permit them to protect their persons, families, and homes.  I believe that, those individuals who would like to hunt animals for food should be allowed to do so.

With all of that said, none of these scenarios would require a semi-automatic long gun.  Hunters should be able to develop their skills so that a bolt action, lever action, or pump action long gun would be all that is required to kill an animal for food.  I do not believe in trophy hunting.  For self-defense purposes where your life or home are threatened a handgun would, in most scenarios, be sufficient.  In rare instances, a long gun might be advisable but with the same restrictions as placed on hunters.

I also think our current 24-hour news media contribute to our problem.  After every mass shooting, the media post the name(s) and pictures of the individual or individuals responsible.  They interview the friends and families of the perpetrator(s) ad nauseam.  In essence, the media gives these individuals the notoriety they seem to crave.  While our first amendment would preclude any restrictions on such media coverage, they, the media, should be strongly encouraged to limit their coverage to the event and not the infamy of the perpetrator(s).  All pictures of perpetrators should have a derogatory stamp across their face(s)  that indicates who or what they are.  Coward, Murderer, and Sociopath come to mind.  I wouldn’t use the term Terrorist, as that seems to be a badge of honor with many of these deviants.

I have a few suggestions for national change:

•         Ban the manufacture and sale for personal use, of all semi-automatic long guns*.
•         Current owners of semi-automatic long guns may keep them in their homes for personal protection but may not use them outside their homes except at licensed gun ranges.
•         Establish a government sponsored buy-back of semi-automatic long guns.
•         Current owners of semi-automatic long guns may not transport such weapons except to and from their homes and licensed gun ranges or for the purpose of a legitimate government buy- back.
•         Current owners of semi-automatic long guns may not sell or transfer ownership to anyone outside their immediate family or through a government buy-back.
•         Ban the ownership of fully automatic weapons by anyone outside the established military.  This ban would include current federal licensees and local law enforcement.
•         Establish very severe sentencing guidelines for the mere possession of any semi-automatic* or fully automatic* long gun in the commission of any felony.  [These would be sentencing guidelines where a judge would have discretion, but it would be possible to impose a very severe penalty for mere possession of such weapons during the commission of a felony.]
•         Background checks should be required for all gun sales.  (Go to my article on “Gun Control” for more information on the process)
•         Establish a secure National Identification Card as part of the background check process.  This multi-purpose ID card, while normally voluntary, would be a requirement for a gun purchase.  The link above provides more detail on the process.
•         Ban the manufacture and sale of any ammo clip or magazine that protrudes from the natural shape and design of the original weapon.

While these gun restrictions and changes will not stop gun violence, they should not be so intrusive as make an individual less safe at home or in his/her person.  As a FORMER member of the NRA, I found their inflexibility in regard to any gun regulation to be incomprehensible.  Compromise needs to return to our vocabulary.

* Definitions-Information

* A long gun is typically any weapon designed to be fired braced against the shoulder.  The barrel length varies in legal definitions.  For this discussion, any barrel length exceeding 10" would qualify as a long gun regardless its inclusion or lack of a shoulder brace.
* A semi-automatic weapon is one that requires a separate finger pull of the trigger to fire each round where the spent cartridge is ejected from the weapon.
* A fully automatic weapon requires a single trigger pull to fully discharge as many bullets as are available as long as the trigger is held depressed.
* The barrel length of any weapon influences the potential muzzle velocity of any bullet fired from that weapon.  The longer the barrel, the greater the potential damage to the target.