I don't own a gun. I have no rifle, no pistols. I would like to own a sniper rifle and a semi-automatic, but local taxes make it impracticable.
Violence with guns is horrible. The carnage guns can wreak is unimaginable to those who have never been in the military or been involved in or seen a shooting. Gangs with illegal weapons have no conscience and spray and pray that they've hit their intended targets; if they don't, no matter.
Even so, the Second Amendment to the Constitution gives citizens the right to bear arms. There is no limitation on that right specified in the Constitution. What limits there are have come from Congress, oftentimes in conflict with courts' rulings defending the constitutional right.
Despite my interest in owning guns, I've never looked into what it would take to buy and own one. I'm not well-versed in the purchase of guns, but I have read plenty of articles on the subject. My opinion, therefore, is inexpert and inexperienced.
I do not believe that gun rights should be abridged any further. The Constitution provides those rights.
There should, however, by tighter regulation of gun ownership. By that I mean that the various governments -- federal, state and municipal -- should cooperate more on the sale, purchase and ownership of guns. The shootings at Virginia Tech could have been prevented, possibly, if state and federal officials had shared information as to the shooter's mental problems. If we can have databases that tell you about the history of a car when it's offered for sale, there should be a secure database that allows gun vendors the ability to run a check at the store when someone wants to purchase a weapon.
After purchase, doctors could be required to notify authorities anytime someone is determined to be mentally unstable. Procedures could be put in place to ensure that some Barney Fife in Hayseed, USA, can't unilaterally revoke a gunowner's license. This information would then be shared with all federal, state and municipal authorities. If we can revoke driver's licenses, why can't we revoke gunowners' licenes?
Liberal groups who are concerned about privacy have to make a choice: Do you want to have people who shouldn't have guns be able to purchase guns in exchange for the protection of their privacy? What of the privacy and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of faceless and nameless future victims? If we can have time, place and manner restrictions on First Amendment rights (for example, judges in many states are prohibited from making political speeches while in office, a clear abridgement of their First Amendment rights), we can have restrictions on privacy for the purchase of high-powered weapons.
Second, there should be crackdowns on those found to have sold guns illegally. In hand with that there should be tighter controls on who can sell guns, so that those responsible purveyors have nothing to fear from illegal vendors. Sure, there could be the hassle of more regulations, but the cost of those regulations would be made up by increased sales from people who now have to buy guns from registered vendors because they cannot buy them on the black market.
Third, there should be harsher penalties for anyone who commits a crime with a gun. Sure, there are already stiff penalties for aggravation of certain crimes, but we could make those penalties even stiffer. Again, the do-gooder lobby will argue that this felon didn't understand, that the other felon had a harsh life, blah, blah, blah. Well, apply zero tolerance to anyone who uses a gun in the commission of a crime.
Contrary to those people who believe that guns kill people, it's time to focus on the human element and change what we can about the application of the law to people who buy, sell and use guns. There will never be a perfect solution to the problem. Even if all my suggestions were put in action, there will still be a person who loses it and shoots innocent people. People with driver's licenses can do damage, intentionally or unintentionally, with their cars. Guns can be used in the same way, often with more widespread tragedy. But the amount of victims doesn't lessen or increase the tragedy.
It's time for a commonsense approach to gunownership.
(c) 2012 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
I grew up in a home filled with all kinds of guns, reloading equipment, and anything else you can think of that goes with guns. My father, who owned those guns, socialized with men of the same ilk, who loved guns just as much. Never did any of them, or their children cause harm with any of those guns, unless it was to some hapless turkey or deer. I think people who paint with big brushes need to realize this is a social issue and look into that aspect of the violence.
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