I've owned and shot an awful lot of guns of all sizes, types, and flavors. And I have yet to find one that included the self-firing feature. You have to pull the trigger, or nothing happens. Jovan Belcher pulled the trigger both on his girlfriend, and later himself. Clearly this was a young man with some very serious mental health issues. Other notable shootings from Columbine to VA Tech seem to suggest that guns don't kill people, people struggling with mental health problems do.
So, here's a thought. Maybe we ought to give some consideration to closing these loopholes. Don't allow purchase of ANY (not just handguns, long guns too) firearms by individuals with serious and/or chronic mental health issues. The vehicles to regulate are pretty simple -- background checks could include institutionalization, or possibly even long term medication with anti-depressants above a certain threshold.
While we're at it, I'd suggest a few other improvements that would help prevent these types of situations:
- Institute Federal Firearms laws that bring state-to-state consistency to the laws for gun ownership; yes the NRA will fire up the "state's rights" argument, but that's just a strategy to confuse the issue.
- Prohibit individuals with ANY history of debilitating mental illness from owning firearms; period.
- Step-up penalties for unregistered firearms; though I am NOT advocating for a Federal gun database
If you're a law-abiding gun owner (as most of the folks I know are) a few simple checks and balances in the system won't hinder our freedom. And if they prevent even one tragedy, they're worth it, in my mind.
As with anything else you find in this blog, just my opinion.
-Sean-
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment