Common Ground

After the fluff of flip-flops, seemed time to tackle a more serious topic. WARNING: If you're a gun nut, read this with an open mind. If you're anti-gun, do the same. It's a Constitutional right to own a gun, but it's also a Constitutional right not to get shot with one. Everyone's opinion has a place.

Seems there's lots of gun discussion going on just now. Gun nuts think the President wants to take away their guns. Anti-gun folks keep getting fuel as gun nuts hoard ammo and assault weapons.

Maybe we need to find the middle?

Owning and using a gun is a serious responsibility. Yes, we have a Constitutional right to do so, but that doesn't mean we should take it any less seriously. In many areas, I think we're grossly underregulated. In others, perhaps we just need to be more consistent. But, I'm willing to live with some more regulation if it prevents us from becoming the UK where you get to store your firearms in a locker at the police station and check them out to use them. So, a few ideas:

National Consistency
State-by-state variance in gun laws traces its roots to issues of State's rights first raised during Constitutional times. But Federal regulation would eliminate variability and loopholes. For example, the Michigan Concealed Pistol License is fairly challenging to obtain. It requires course work, range time, a half day with a legal expert to understand the legalities, followed by review by the County gun board, a Federal background check, and a fair bit of money. Contrast this with North Dakota where a 15-minute visit with the Sheriff and his endorsement that you're OK and PRESTO you're a CPL holder. Not right. In Tennesee, laws were recently passed that enable you to carry concealed in BARS. Yeah, that seems like a great idea (BTW, it's illegal in Michigan).

Registration
A shotgun is far more lethal than a handgun. Yet, you can buy one in just a few minutes at the local Walmart with a minimal check. A gun is a gun, if you require registration of ALL functioning firearms, then it's easier to find the unregistered ones -- which are likely the real problem. In fact, I'd be open to adding some regulation of shooting ranges. You want to shoot at a public range? Fine, produce the registration for all of your firearms and c'mon in. No registration? Sorry.

Gun Shows
Ever been to one? They're a fascinating cross-section of society. While I concur that they have a place - finding oddball parts, unusual older firearams, or other items - they're pretty sketchy. The category of "antiquities" is an interesting one. Yes, that M1 Garand is an "antiquity", but it's still functional and it was used in WWII to kill people at fairly long distances. So, it should go through the same registration process as any other firearm. And, it's pretty easy to pick up conversion kits for fully automatic weapons here. Put an end to it. Nobody needs a machine gun, no matter what Ted Nugent says.

Waiting Periods
If you have a legitimate reason to own a gun, waiting three days isn't going to kill you. And it will afford more time for the background check and registration processes that help ensure firearms aren't being purchased by the wrong folks.

Bottom Line
As I alluded to earlier, if law-abiding gun owners give in a little and take some extra steps with registration and demonstrating that they're legitimate, this changes the equation for illegal guns. When all the legit guns are registered, it makes it a BUNCH easier to crack down on the illegal ones. And, if we give a little, maybe the other side focuses their efforts on illegal firearms, rather than the law-abiding folk.

Give it some thought. Just my perspective.

-Sean-

P.S. One more thought for gun owners. Eliminating stupidity would also take some fuel from anti-gun fires. You "forgot" your gun was in your briefcase? Really? Then you're a moron who doesn't deserve to own it. A firearm is potentially lethal at any moment. Keep that in mind.