The fact is that thousands of deaths all across our country can be prevented with solid intelligence sharing and common sense regulation. Between 83% and 91% of the country supports background checks for all gun purchases and yet, somehow, this simple provision is consistently written out of proposed legislation. It is time that we make this a permanent policy priority rather than a set of talking points to be rolled out alongside the names of our next shooting victims.
I love my guns, and I’m no hypocrite. But I love my son more. I love taking him to school, a movie, or simply around the block without fearing for his life. It is dangerous and shortsighted to require so little of our fellow gun owners, because—as 11-year-old Hunter’s case tragically shows—they hold the very lives of those around them in their hands.
So what can we do? The best proposals are all about common sense and moderation—too often four-letter words in politics. Background checks and mental health evaluations for all gun owners, on a five-year verification cycle, would be a great first step.
Requiring licenses and negligent discharge insurance would be part of common sense reform. Much like vehicles—which are also key pieces of personal property that can take lives when they are operated irresponsibly, firearms should require a license to own and operate. A tiered licensing system could apply to different types of weapons. Insurance could cover any damages caused by negligent discharge, and skyrocketing rates might prove discouraging for repeat offenders.
Prudent limits need to be imposed. We should consider putting a cap on the number of firearms purchased for personal use. Allowances could be made for licensed gun dealers, but home protection and hunting require don’t require individuals to keep an arsenal. At the very least, misdemeanors such as DUIs, drug charges, and white-collar crimes should be added to the list of crimes that preclude offenders from owning firearms.
You know the funny thing is that all of this, ALL of this, seems likes a completely reasonable and appropriate way to deal with the senseless violence that we see every single day here in America. And yet there is no likelihood that any of it will be implemented.
At least not anytime soon.
Conservatives are always going on about "common sense" solutions. But when it comes to guns there is no way to even begin the conversation, much less agree on a reasonable solution, before they start waving the 2nd Amendment in our face and screaming about fascism.
And that is incredibly tragic.
It also makes you wonder if what happened at Sandy Hook is not enough to make people get serious about gun control, then just how many people have to die before Americans say enough is enough?
I'm in favor of a gradual implementation of sanity in the gun owning arena. Let's put some limitations on assault weapons for a start. Might save a few lives while the idiot politicians negotiate with the even more idiotic NRA>
ReplyDelete"Requiring licenses and negligent discharge insurance would be part of common sense reform. Much like vehicles—which are also key pieces of personal property that can take lives when they are operated irresponsibly, firearms should require a license to own and operate. A tiered licensing system could apply to different types of weapons. Insurance could cover any damages caused by negligent discharge, and skyrocketing rates might prove discouraging for repeat offenders. " been saying this for a while...now all the RWNJ will threaten him....
DeleteI despair of ever getting gun control passed in this country. I repeatedly post a link to this Tom Tomorrow cartoon: http://thismodernworld.com/archives/7617
ReplyDeleteIt came out after Tuscon. Which just shows, again, how screwed up our priorities are.
Agreed. There is a certain percentage of fundamentally "Christian" Americans who would not want to control guns (in any way) even if Jesus himself told them to do so. They are children who will NEVER grow up.
DeleteAnd you just gotta know what these rabid gun-toters are consciously or unconsciously afraid of...those minorities they hate getting their own back. And why they don't shows how much more envolved they are.
I despair of the American culture of fear -- what chance does any gun control legislation have? Fuck all.
When you've got a Category 5 Moron like Palin, an iconic representation of the gutteral RWNJ spouting "commonsense," as a platform, what hope do you have?
ReplyDeleteThe NRA Is Going to Have a Hard Time Reaching Out to Millennials
ReplyDeleteNow that the NRA has figured out that the next generation of consumers may not be as interested in buying guns as previous generations, they have started their own television and Internet network, NRA Freestyle, where "adventure, style, culture and firearms collide." It'll be interesting to see whether an organization whose rank-and-file membership is overwhelmingly white, male, rural, blue-collar and committed to "family values," can re-orient itself to capture the hearts and minds of a population that is increasingly non-white, college educated, urban-suburban and pro-gay rights. And most of all, it's a population, according to Pew and other surveys, that has little, if any, loyalty or even interest in the ideology of old fashioned liberal or conservative points of view.
With these thoughts in mind I tuned into the premiere of Noir, the first show to be aired on the Freestyle network. The headliner, Colion Noir, is an African-American young man from Texas who has been part of the NRA commentators stable for the past year and is considered the "proof" that one can be hip, cool, minority and dig guns. Noir is joined by Amy Robbins, whose presence and her comments reminding everyone of the importance of the female gun market even though, in fact, women continue to show little interest in guns.
But despite the hip and cool verbal pitter-patter between a black guy and a white girl, let's not forget what the show's really all about. It takes Noir and Robbins about five minutes to deliver a snarky and totally irrelevant rant against Hillary Clinton, with a reminder that a Clinton presidency would mark a new chapter in the attack on citizen-owned guns. And then at about the 10 minute mark, after our two hosts are joined by Billy Johnson, who regularly delivers conservative tirades against gun control on NRA webcasts, the show becomes just another vehicle for attacking former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg and his attempts to use "government" to tell us all "how to run our own lives."
Up until the Bloomberg rant, I thought the show was making some headway into changing the image of the NRA from a hardcore, politicized advocacy organization into something that a younger, less politically-committed generation might find easier to accept. But Mr. Noir, believe me when I tell you that using about half the show to push out the same, old, NRA-style attacks against the "enemies" of the 2nd Amendment isn't hip, isn't cool, and it isn't style combined with culture. Colion Noir, my man, it's just boring and dull.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-weisser/nra-millennials-guns_b_5330116.html
Judge Upholds DC Gun Control Law
ReplyDeleteA federal judge has upheld the gun-control law in the District of Columbia, which bans assault weapons and large-capacity magazines while imposing registration requirements for handguns and long guns.
In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the city seeks to combat gun violence and promote public safety and that the current law does so in a constitutionally permissible manner.
The District of Columbia previously had one of the most strict gun control laws in the nation, but it was struck down in 2008 when the Supreme Court concluded that that the Second Amendment protects handgun possession for self-defense in the home.
The law upheld Thursday seeks to accommodate that constitutional right while also protecting the community from gun violence.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judge-upholds-dc-gun-control-law
Gun control doesn't help because criminals will still find ways to obtain firearms and ammo, then us the law abiding citizen are left defenseless and venerable to crime. Also it gives the government full control over its citizen.
ReplyDeleteSnort!
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