To the editor:
More of the same. “It’s a mental health issue.” “There will always be evil people.” “Everyone has a right to arm themselves.” “We can’t deny everyone because of a few bad people.”
Always excuses why we need to stand pat on rules that are in place after the Brady Bill was allowed to expire in 2004 and we returned to being able to purchase many weapons without the Brady Bill’s legal definitions of assault-style weapons that had not been available.
I am a gun owner. I own shotguns, a .22/20guage over under, rifles. None are for personal protection because I’ve never needed to carry a pistol for protection to do my job, like the bail bondsman who commented, or some landlords I know who have run into problem renters. My experience in the military taught me and knowledge of my own weapons, if someone wants to shoot me that can do so from 100 yards up to 750 yards or more depending on their ability to shoot.
In Australia in 1996, a man killed 35 and wounded 23 using military style assault weapons. That country’s prime minister and legislators enacted laws that banned semi-automatic and automatic firearms, had a gun buyback program started, a national registry and a 28-day waiting period. After the 1996 law, there hasn’t been another mass murder, gun-related homicides dropped by 59% and gun-related suicides dropped 65% between 1995 and 2006. Since then, statistics indicate those numbers have leveled off.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/australia-gun-control/541710/
We have a lot of weapons in the U.S., but a relatively small part of the population own multiple guns (like me). Three percent (3%) of the US population own 50% of the guns and about 7.7M gun owners have from eight up to 140 guns.
While I don’t see the Congress and state legislatures willing to enact as many laws as Australia did after their 1996 mass murder, I am hopeful we can some major changes in our state and Federal gun laws. Get military-style weapons like the AR-15, which fires a .223 caliber round that tumbles and its use is to kill humans, finally off the market. Limit magazines to a maximum of 10 rounds for rifles and pistols by OEMs and after market manufacturers Ban the use and manufacture of kits that make a semi-automatic act like an automatic like and bump stocks.
A minimum 28-day waiting period should be enacted until the federal government increases manpower and updates computer systems for a national gun registry and state registries that allow the sharing of data. Then it could be moved to a 14-day waiting period.
New laws following gun registration. You don’t have to register your guns with the state/federal database, but if one of your guns is stolen/lost/borrowed and used in a crime, you can go to jail for 24 to 36 months. I’m guessing 80% of the gun owning population will have no objection since they register vehicles of all kinds with the state already. But those who object can get lucky if no guns are stolen. However if they want to trade or sell, the new owner would be required to register.
None of these suggestions will stop anyone from owning or acquiring handguns or rifles for any use, including protecting their home.
For those who might keep up with very recent news, you’ll see the NRA isn’t objecting to some of the newly proposed rules after the most recent school shooting incident in Florida. Be cognizant of the fact their support might be based on their knowledge of the current and proposed budgets that don’t have enough funds for adequate data to be collected. The NRA also knows that the proposed budget reduces ATF enforcement funding. This way they appear to be for something and can call for fiscal policy that will let new policies sit because there is no funding.
Regards, “Couchman”
Please address the 2d Amendment to the United States Constitution and how you get around it?
Thank you.
Also, “if one of your guns is stolen/lost/borrowed and used in a crime, you can go to jail for 24 to 36 months.” Please explain how this is even legal? What about the local gun stores that recently experienced robberies? Do you advocate imprisoning the owners? Your car is stolen used in a crime and you go to jail? I break into your home take your guns, use them in a crime, and you go to jail? How is that even close to being legal? I do not like you, so I steal your weapon and stick up a store with it; I get 6 months probation and you get two to three years? A former spouse is mad, takes your gun into a weapons free zone, and he or she gets 6 months (if that) you get two to three years? And you state your plan will not prevent gun ownership? In what world? You may “guess” that 80% of gun owners would not object, but you are way off. Comparing gun registration to car registration is a false comparison — the Constitution does not guarantee your right to own a car.