I recently posted on Facebook and asked for some actual gun control ideas, also adding a few of my own thoughts. Naturally, I liked some of the ideas, was indifferent to some ideas, and didn't like others. We'll start with the ones that I like.
- We need strong background checks for gun purchases, including mental health: That's exactly what happened when I bought a firearm, and that's exactly what should happen when anyone attempts to buy a firearm in this country. Loopholes are often exaggerated, but there should be no loopholes in this. If there are loopholes, the people who want to harm will find them, or they may just buy guns illegally instead, but we need to make it as hard as possible for bad people to obtain firearms.
- Bump Stock devices should be illegal, although they're quite easy to just make yourself. Bump stocks can make firearms that are not automatic (semi-automatic is far different from automatic) function similar to automatic weapons, which are and should remain illegal.
- I'm in favor of implementing mandatory safety training in order to get a gun license. Some people are complete idiots, and even those who aren't ought to go through the course with an NRA-certified instructor. Admittedly, I knew very little about the proper ways to shoot various firearms before I took the course and shot guns for the first time. The first two things they teach you, by the way, are to always point the gun in a safe direction, and treat every gun as a loaded gun.
- We need improved mental healthcare in this country, make it more accessible, and come up with better ways to identify the mentally ill who are a danger to themselves and others.
- The FBI, undoubtedly, needs to do a better job following up on solid leads (they were told specifically about the Florida shooter twice and did nothing), and making sure people cannot purchase firearms when they commit a crime that bars them from owning firearms, such as domestic violence (like the church shooter last year, who was allowed to purchase firearms legally due to a government error).
- For mass shootings, why don't we stop reporting the name of the shooter and don't show the photo of the shooter? These are sick people that want fame and notoriety. They often are obsessed with previous mass shootings and those who carried them out. Yes, the public has a right to know, and the press has a right (and arguably an obligation) to report this information. Not doing so would probably spark even more insane conspiracy theories than we've typically seen with mass shootings. But to me, seeing if giving this up makes a difference makes a whole lot more sense than surrendering any rights to gun ownership. Guns save a hell of a lot more lives every year than they take. That's an impossible one to get statistics on because the presence of guns and not even their active use has saved a lot of lives, but estimates are generally anywhere from 200,000-2.5 million lives saved per year in the United States.
And some that I'm indifferent to...
- A lot of people are suggesting making the legal age for buying a rifle 21, which is typically the age at which you can buy a handgun. I don't really care either way on this. However, you vote, serve in the military, give sexual consent, and buy cigarettes anywhere in the United States at age 18. I also believe you should be able to buy alcohol at 18. It makes sense that purchasing firearms should also be 18, but if they wanted to go with just hunting rifles at 18 and the rest at 21, or swap handguns to 18 and rifles to 21, whatever. I don't have strong feelings either way on this one.
- Armed guards in schools: I like the idea of having a veteran do this, rather than a teacher, but yes, there would be cost involved, and also if there's one person with a gun, that may not prevent a mass shooting, depending on proximity to the shooter when the shooter enters the premises and whether or not the shooter takes out the armed guard.
- Metal detectors in all schools: Sure, but it doesn't really matter when someone comes in guns blazing or breaks in an alternate entrance.
And those that I don't like...
- Making it illegal to not own a gun: Some people shouldn't own a gun, and those that choose not to should not be forced to. For example, my Dad was an NRA member, Navy Veteran, and strong supporter of the second amendment, but he chose to not own a gun for the majority of his life. He had seen what they could do, he didn't particularly like them, we lived in a neighborhood where we felt safe, and he claimed he was a terrible shot. (If he was still alive today though, I'll bet he would have come to the range with me and my brother a few times at least.)
- Banning AR-15s or those that fall into the ever-popular inconsistent category of assault rifles: A thousand times NO! This is a dangerous precedent, because these guns are still one trigger pull equals one shot. There isn't a big difference between what is classified as an assault rifle and what isn't, because the distinguishing factors are all over the place and can include type of handle and grip, material the gun is made of, whether or not extra features like scopes can be added to it, etc. A logically consistent argument would call for banning a lot more than just this type of gun, and that's exactly where the extreme Leftists would go once these were successfully banned and inevitable tragedies still occurred, just like they did when these were banned when I was a kid. Mass shooters will use other types of guns, like they did at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and plenty of other places. And handguns kill way more people than assault rifles every year. Oh, and so do knives. But do we really need AR-15s? I don't have any interest in buying one personally, at least at this point in my life, and they're pretty restricted in Connecticut anyway, but people who want them should be allowed to get them. It's a matter of choice. They're a lot of fun to shoot at a range too. Besides, do we really need knives? Can't we just make the meat really tender and use our forks to cut it? Ugh.
AND NOW TO DEBUNK SOME MYTHS!
- The "AR" in AR-15 does not stand for "assault rifle" (it stands for ArmaLite).
- There have not been "18 school shootings" in America thus far this year. That number includes accidental discharges, stray bullets, occurrences not during school hours, suicides, and shots fired in the parking lot. It is dishonest to lump those in with last week's tragedy, and one shooting is already too many. There is no need for the media to pretend there were 18 in an attempt to shock people into angrily supporting any gun control Jimmy Kimmel cries we should have during his garbage late-night "comedy" show. (I really miss "The Man Show".)
- Data can be manipulated in the gun debate because correlation is not causation, and there are correlations that support both sides. There's data showing that a lot of states with stricter gun policies have less gun deaths, but this is not the case across the boards and leaves out factors such as populated inner-city areas, many of which have extremely strict gun laws but extremely high murder rates. Conveniently, Washington, D.C. is not a state so it's left out of the those statistics. Of course, there's also data showing increased firearm ownership rates over the years but decreased murders, as well as countries with gun bans versus countries with high rates of gun ownership and the corresponding murder rates. And Australia is a terrible point of comparison for a lot of reasons, especially since the rate of mass shootings there was always extremely low.
- None of the proposals on the table will stop mass shootings and gun deaths, though we should try to determine what is so different now than the time when high school students had guns on the gun racks of their trucks at school, yet there were school shootings were never a concern...
- There is no logical fallacy of people who don't believe the NRA, gun shops, or gun manufacturers are not participants in gun murders, yet support a baker's right to not bake a cake for a gay wedding because the baker feels that by doing so, participation is involved. While I would personally bake the cake, I support the baker's right to make the opposite decision, because the intended use of the cake is to celebrate a gay wedding. The intended use of a gun is defense, not murder.
- The NRA is NOT to blame for mass shootings, and the NRA does not want to put guns in the hands of criminals. The NRA wants to have trained, responsible, and safe gun owners, who are able to defend themselves or others when needed. Unlike Planned Parenthood, which openly murders millions of babies every year via abortion, the NRA does not want to murder anyone, and in fact, seeks to stop murders from happening as much as possible. I'm not even an NRA member yet (I'll have to get on that at some point), but placing blame there every time there's a mass shooting is ridiculous. And it's ridiculous to blame Congress or President Trump as well. In fact, if you're going to blame any organization for this last one, it's the FBI, for failing to follow-up on multiple credible tips that this person was a danger and threatening to do exactly what he did.
...Kimmel? You still crying, buddy? Need something to cheer you up? Well, sorry, we don't have much in late night comedy anymore, thanks to... well... you. You gonna cry for us to build a wall and tighten border security next time someone is killed by an illegal immigrant too? I didn't think so. ...AND NOW, GIRLS JUMPING ON TRAMPOLINES!
