The United Guns of America
After every mass shooting, we hear the same cries from the most fervent gun rights supporters.
This shooting will be the one that Obama and the "libs" will use to take away their guns. There is no remorse or sympathy for the victims' families. There is, however, blame and contempt toward the victims for not carrying a firearm, and an unfounded fear that the government is going to take their guns.
These are the same people who claim that government cannot do anything right. Let that sink in for a minute: The government that is so incompetent that it cannot be trusted to provide even the most basic services is somehow going to come and take away their guns. The sheer ridiculousness of this argument is, well, insane.
As of 2007, there were an estimated 270 million privately owned firearms in this country. That number is most likely low, as there is no way to know for sure just how many guns there really are. There is no database listing each gun owner and the number of guns they own. There is no list of registered gun owners and in some states like Wisconsin, the names of citizens who have concealed carry licenses cannot be disclosed.
The [Wisconsin] Department [of Justice] maintains a database of concealed carry license holders but access to it is strictly limited. Even law enforcement officers could not routinely check, say, whether a person they are stopping in connection with a violent crime has a license to carry.
After President Obama's second inaugural address, National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre stated:
[President Obama] wants to put every private, personal transaction under the thumb of the federal government, and he wants to keep all those names in a massive federal registry. There are only two reasons for that federal list of gun owners—to tax them or take them.
That is the head of the NRA stoking the fears of its members. Read on to see what
President Obama's plan, proposed in January 2013, actually included.
- Requires background checks for all gun sales and strengthens the background check system. This would include removing barriers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act so that states may more freely share information about mental health issues involving potential gun purchasers.
- Provides states with monetary incentives—$20 million in fiscal year FY 2013 and a proposed $50 million in FY 2014—to share information so that records on criminal history and people prohibited from gun ownership due to mental health reasons are more available.
- Bans military-style assault weapons and limits magazines to a capacity of 10 rounds.
- Provides additional tools to law enforcement. The plan proposes a crackdown on gun trafficking by asking Congress to pass legislation that closes “loopholes” in gun trafficking laws and establishes strict penalties for “straw purchasers” who pass a background check and then pass guns on to prohibited people.
- Urges Congress to pass the administration’s $4 billion proposal to keep 15,000 state and local police officers on the street to help deter gun crime.
- Maximizes efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime. The president calls upon the attorney general to work with U.S. attorneys across the country to determine gaps occurring in this area and where supplemental resources are appropriate.
- Provides training for “active shooter” situations to 14,000 law enforcement, first responders and school officials.
- Directs the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to issue a statement to health care providers that they are not prohibited by federal law from reporting threats of violence to the proper authorities.
- Launches a national gun safety campaign to encourage responsible gun ownership and authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission to examine issues relating to gun safety locks.
- Helps schools invest in safety. The president’s plan calls for more school resource officers and counselors in all schools through the Community Oriented Policing Services hiring program. The plan also calls for the federal government to assist schools in developing emergency management plans.
- Improves mental health awareness through enhanced teacher training and referrals for treatment. The plan calls for the training of 5,000 additional mental health professionals nationwide. The plan also calls for coverage of mental health treatment under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
A national gun registry is nowhere in that plan.
However, there is something a registry would be good for other than confiscation or taxation: When some careless gun owner good guy with a gun has one or all of his guns stolen—and the police need to track where the weapons came from if they're used in a crime.
It isn't just mass shootings that are a problem. With such easy access to firearms—seriously, it is easier to buy a gun than it is to purchase Sudafed—it is no wonder we have become numb to reports of gun crime. As of October 8, there have been 10,172 gun-related deaths in the United States so far in 2015, and 20,679 injuries. In comparison, between 2001 and 2014 there were a total of 6,845 U.S. service members killed in action over 13 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In just a little more than nine months, we have already had more deaths by firearm this year alone than we had in 13 years of war.
We must find the will to do something to stop this. There's not one simple solution to gun violence in the United States. But all Congress members, all gun owners who are against any gun control, and all NRA leaders have blood on their hands due to their inaction. They are also guilty of stoking unsubstantiated fears about something that will never happen: No one is coming to take your fucking guns.