Everyone (I hope) is sick, tired and disgusted that this keeps happening. So what should we actually do about it? Of course the most important part – addressing the underlying causes (kids in broken homes, lack of general respect societally for others, etc.) is a time-consuming fix that candidly we'll never achieve, though we should try anyway. But here are a bunch of my ideas for more immediate band-aids. I hope others will chime in with theirs.
• Enact minimum 30-year sentences without the possibility of parole for:
- anyone convicted of any crime while in possession of a gun;
- anyone convicted of stealing a weapon;
- anyone convicted of illegally giving or selling their own gun to someone else;
- anyone convicted of gross negligence/failure to reasonably secure their own gun when that gun is stolen by someone else; (if your gun is stolen at gunpoint or something like that, you're not guilty. If you leave your gun lying around on a park bench and someone takes it and shoots up a school, you are guilty, for example). Owning a gun is a serious responsibility. Take it seriously or else go to jail.
• Establish a federally funded mental health program to help treat those who need it and to provide emergency treatment and beds in mental health facilities for those who are in crisis.
• Ban and phase out military-grade weapons. You can't own nuclear warheads or an attack helicopter for "personal defense," so the line has already been drawn somewhere when it comes to our right to own weapons. We just need to move it a bit to get rid of these machine guns.
• Raise the legal age to purchase a gun to 21. I know, plenty of 18-20 year-olds are responsible, etc. But you can't drink until you're 21 – we moved that age back three years a long time ago, too. It's time to make the same change here.
• Enact universal background checks for any gun purchases. Duh. If you have nothing to hide, you'll get your gun. If you are a crazy pyschopath with a criminal record, you won't. Not a big deal.
• Enact a national gun registry. The government already knows where you live, how much money you make and what kind of car you drive. If you own a business, in most states it knows every piece of furniture and computer equipment you own. Add guns to that list – not to spy on people, but so we can trace guns that are bought by one person and end up in the hands of another, in order to hold them both accountable.
Bottom line to me is that there are more shootings and shooting deaths here because we have twice as many guns as the next closest nation, meaning it's easier to get a gun here (legally or illegally) than anywhere else, and lots of people who shouldn't have them are getting them and killing people. Tighten that up, severely punish those who break the law (and don't let them back on the street with a slap on the wrist), and you'll see change, IMO.
• Enact minimum 30-year sentences without the possibility of parole for:
- anyone convicted of any crime while in possession of a gun;
- anyone convicted of stealing a weapon;
- anyone convicted of illegally giving or selling their own gun to someone else;
- anyone convicted of gross negligence/failure to reasonably secure their own gun when that gun is stolen by someone else; (if your gun is stolen at gunpoint or something like that, you're not guilty. If you leave your gun lying around on a park bench and someone takes it and shoots up a school, you are guilty, for example). Owning a gun is a serious responsibility. Take it seriously or else go to jail.
• Establish a federally funded mental health program to help treat those who need it and to provide emergency treatment and beds in mental health facilities for those who are in crisis.
• Ban and phase out military-grade weapons. You can't own nuclear warheads or an attack helicopter for "personal defense," so the line has already been drawn somewhere when it comes to our right to own weapons. We just need to move it a bit to get rid of these machine guns.
• Raise the legal age to purchase a gun to 21. I know, plenty of 18-20 year-olds are responsible, etc. But you can't drink until you're 21 – we moved that age back three years a long time ago, too. It's time to make the same change here.
• Enact universal background checks for any gun purchases. Duh. If you have nothing to hide, you'll get your gun. If you are a crazy pyschopath with a criminal record, you won't. Not a big deal.
• Enact a national gun registry. The government already knows where you live, how much money you make and what kind of car you drive. If you own a business, in most states it knows every piece of furniture and computer equipment you own. Add guns to that list – not to spy on people, but so we can trace guns that are bought by one person and end up in the hands of another, in order to hold them both accountable.
Bottom line to me is that there are more shootings and shooting deaths here because we have twice as many guns as the next closest nation, meaning it's easier to get a gun here (legally or illegally) than anywhere else, and lots of people who shouldn't have them are getting them and killing people. Tighten that up, severely punish those who break the law (and don't let them back on the street with a slap on the wrist), and you'll see change, IMO.