1. As we address the gun issue, we also need to address the police issue. Even if you pass the best possible gun law, you still need police to enforce it. When people lack confidence in the police, they are that much more likely to acquire guns if they don’t feel safe in their neighborhood.
2. So a big problem in the gun debate in America is that one side seems to have a philosophical rather than practical mindset towards the issue. It says in the Constitution “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” But that’s obviously more of a collective right than an individual right. The Founding Fathers felt that guns were necessary, but they didn’t mean for everyone to have a gun. Furthermore, many individual rights depend on the individual being a responsible adult. There are rights that are just not afforded to children, felons, and people with certain behavioral health issues.
3. Yes, other countries don’t have the same problem that the US has with mass shootings. Those countries also don’t have the history and culture that the US has. There are now more guns than people in the US. There are lunatics advocating for civil war and stocking up on rifles and ammunition. Think of gun culture as a knife embedded in the nation’s chest: sure you would be better off without the knife in your chest, but if you try to yank it out all at once you’ll bleed to death. This is a problem that will take decades to solve.
It is ironic that RWNJ’s talked about needing guns to resist tyranny, then turn around and attempt to install Trump as a tyrant. The reality is that guns have been a part of our history and culture from the beginning. There was an England, a France, and a Japan before guns, but there was no United States before the invention of firearms. America was founded at gunpoint. For the US to outlaw guns would be like Saudi Arabia banning the Koran.
So if people say “Hell yeah, we’re going to take your guns,” we will get creamed in the midterms and nothing will get done. If we make proposals that gun owners consider reasonable, like red flag laws or raising the age limit on rifle purchases, then we can get moderate gun owners to break off from the MAGAhadeen. The conversation can be about keeping guns out of the hands of people with behavioral issues. Just about every honest gun owner can tell you that there are certain people who just shouldn’t have guns. We can talk about the No Fly List, and then talk about creating No Buy lists and maybe we can reach a consensus here.
4. So I can easily prove that I’m not a child or a felon. How do I establish that I don’t have any mental health issues that might cause me to be a threat to others? I think that there should be a buddy system set up for gun owners and prospective gun buyers. If five people who know you will vouch that you’re a solid sane individual who will only use your gun for lawful purposes, then maybe you should be allowed to own a gun. On the other hand, if you don’t have five friends, then maybe you need therapy and not a gun.
5. I realize that many people have good reason to hate guns. There is gunfire in my neighborhood on a regular basis, and my house was hit by a bullet a few years ago. At a different house that I lived at, someone abandoned a shotgun in my yard. There were times in the past where I slept with a gun under my bed. There were times in the past when I lived with a mentally ill person, so I could not safely keep a firearm in the home. As a security guard, I learned that it is a poor practice to advertise what specific security measures are used in a business or residence. So I follow the doctrine of Schrodinger's Gun: you’ll just have to come over and look to see what I have.