This is my first attempt at a diary, so bear with me. Yesterdays, horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary is the genesis of this process.
I am NOT advocating taking away all guns.
Not going to have a ton of data to back up what I'm putting forth, it's more about thoughts and ideas that came to me over night and getting them out before they fade. Please feel free to tell me why I'm wrong, right, an epic dumbass, etc...
More below the orange croissant of wisdom
It is my firm belief that we in this country have and out of control gun culture. It is way to easy to buy, own, discharge a firearm that is near, if not military grade. It is also my belief that there is absolutely no reason for the average citizen to need or have such hardware. We as a society have unfortunately proven time and again that we are simply not up to the responsibility, that we do not have the maturity for it.
So some thoughts to get the ball rolling.
1. Limit Semi-Automatic handguns to six (6) shot clips. Caught with anything larger - $10,000 dollar fine per extra bullet, and 6 months mandatory minimum jail/community service. Three (3) offenses and you are banned from ALL forms of gun ownership.
2. Complete ban on Semi-Automatic Rifles. Three (3) shot bolt action or lever action rifles more than suffice for hunting, and target shooting. Same fines / punishments as #1 above. FYI I grew up in Eastern Oregon and Alaska in a family that hunts, preferred hunting rifles were a 30-40 Krag (3 shot) and a 30.06 (3 shot). If you are putting yourself in a hunting situation were you need more than 3 shots, you deserve to be Darwined out of the gene pool.
3. Complete ban of Semi-Automatic Shotguns. Five (5) shot pump action or Double Barrel is more than sufficient for a shotguns purpose. Same fines / punishments as #1 above. I am not against reasonable short barrel (sawed off) shotguns, as they serve a valid purpose (see growing up in Alaska).
Obviously these are some rather broad suggestions, but they seem reasonable in my mind. There would be pain in the gun industry, and there would need to be a method to turn in (not grandfather) older style weapons/clips/magazines.
Just my two cents, and an attempt to begin a discussion about what is reasonable moving forward.
And to head off the "It's about mental health" crowd, I recognize that there are many parts to the issue, but firmly believe that discussing and changing the out of control gun culture is the best first step.