Guns in America, Part 4. Common-Sense Gun Reforms.

​This is the fourth and final blog on my series “Guns in America”. I could have written ten parts on this subject and have barely scratched the surface. I have explored the constitutional issues surrounding gun ownership, the influence of the NRA on the political debate, and the history of gun laws in this country. This blog will highlight what I feel are some common-sense reforms that could possibly lessen gun violence in America.
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America is special in many ways, and the freedoms that we enjoy as citizens make us the envy of the world. When certain freedoms are abused, they may lead to unintended consequences and have a detrimental impact on society as a whole. The 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms was intended to keep the citizenry safe from tyrannical governments. But this freedom has created a whole new set of tyrannies. It has created a tyranny of violence, political corruption, and a tyranny of individualism over societal good. 

​The United States gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than other high-income countries https://everytownresearch.org/report/gun-violence-in-america/.  Every day in this country more than 100 Americans are killed with guns, and more than 230 are shot and wounded. Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens. Access to guns triples the risk of death by suicide, and doubles the risk of death by homicide. These are grim statistics indeed, so why don’t we just rewrite or repeal the 2nd Amendment?

​Repeal or Replace the 2nd Amendment: If I was king for a day, I would do away with the 2nd Amendment. That is not to say that I would abolish all access to guns by law abiding citizens. There are legitimate reasons, such as sport and personal protection, for citizens to have access to certain types of guns. But I am convinced that meaningful gun control legislation cannot happen in this country without repealing or replacing the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment is why we have metal detectors and security guards in schools. It is why mass shootings are common place, and citizens are allowed to parade around openly carrying military style assault weapons. The 2nd Amendment justifies use of military grade armaments and tactics by law enforcement. The 2nd Amendment has given rise to the NRA and other pro-gun lobbies which have corrupted our political system. The 2nd Amendment has had a negative impact on modern American society.

​There has never been a serious attempt to repeal or replace the 2nd Amendment. Amending the Constitution is very difficult, even more so in the hyper-partisan environment of today. To amend the Constitution requires approval by two-thirds of the members of the House and the Senate before being ratified by three-quarters of the States. If the States so choose, they can bypass the Congress, establish a Constitutional Convention, and propose amendments to the Constitution. This would require two-thirds of the States to agree to the convention, and three-quarters of the States to ratify any amendment. Getting two-thirds of the Congress and three-quarters of the States to agree on something as contentious as the 2nd Amendment is not going to happen any time soon.    

​But not all is lost. Even without amending the Constitution there are some common-sense things that Congress can do, and public opinion is shifting in the direction of gun reform. Fifty-seven percent of Americans say that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/343649/american-public-opinion-gun-violence.aspx. There is strong public support for background checks for all gun purchases, bans on high-capacity magazines, registration of all privately owned guns, and 30-day waiting periods for all gun sales.  

Common Sense Gun Reform Measures:
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1.  Universal Background Checks:  Require all individuals acquiring a gun through purchase or transfer to undergo a background check. This includes sales at gun shows and private party transactions, with no exceptions. This can be accomplished with the passage of two pieces of legislation that I wrote about in my last blog. They are H.R.8: The Bipartisan Background Checks Act and H.R.1446: Enhanced Background Checks Act.
2. Cooling-Off Period: Under current federal law there is no mandated waiting period between the time a gun is purchased and delivered to the buyer. California has a ten-day waiting period for all firearm purchases, transfers, and private sales. Cooling-off periods have been shown to reduce suicides and homicides due to guns https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-waiting-period-guns-weapons-sale-homicides-raja-krishnamoorthi-0326-story.html. Make a ten-day cooling-off period mandatory nationwide.
3. Assault Weapons Ban: At the minimum, renew the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban which was part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-103hr3355enr/pdf/BILLS-103hr3355enr.pdf. But the law should go much further by banning all automatic and semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines for civilian use. There is no conceivable societal good for military style weapons to be in the hands of civilians. No previously owned assault style weapon should be grandfathered in, provided that there is a mandatory government funded buyback program for all such weapons.
4. High-Capacity Magazine Ban: Prohibit the manufacture, transfer or sale of any magazine, clip, or device capable of delivering more than ten rounds of ammunition to any firearm.
5. Mandatory Licensing and Training:  There is no universal, national gun registry or federal license required to own a gun, and the vast majority of states don’t require registration or licensing. There should be a federal requirement that all firearms be licensed, and mandatory gun safety training for all new gun purchasers.
6. Red Flag Laws: Pass a federal “red flag” law that would allow family members or law enforcement to petition for a court order to temporarily bar a person in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others.
7. Ban Ghost Guns: Ghost guns are produced from kits or individual parts, or milled using 3-D printers. None of the parts or finished guns have serial numbers, making them difficult to trace. An unlicensed person can easily assemble a ghost gun at home without undergoing a background check. These gun assembly kits, and 3-D “blueprints” are easily acquired on the internet. Make this practice illegal, and ban the assembly or manufacture of any firearm without a license. Require any kit, 3-D blueprint, or gun parts that could be assembled into a firearm be made available only through a licensed gun dealer. No such kit, blue-print or gun part should be sold without a serial number traceable to the owner. 
8. Prohibition on Open Carry: Prohibit citizens from openly carrying a firearm in public. “Open Carry” does nothing to support public safety and puts others in danger. States which have open carry laws invite its citizens to threaten and intimidate one another.   
9. Treat Gun Violence as a Public Health Matter:  Gun violence does not occur in a vacuum. No discussion of gun reform would be complete without a discussion on what leads people to commit violent acts of any type. There is clearly a mental health component to the issue, and mental health screening and treatment has been underfunded for years.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       In 1993 a CDC funded study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine which showed that having a gun in your home significantly increased the risk of homicide by a family member and the risk of suicide,  https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199310073291506.  As a result of this study the NRA all but shut down federal spending on research into gun violence. In the past few years a few million dollars has begun to trickle into the CDC and the NIH to conduct research into gun violence. The number one cause of death in children and teens in the U.S. is gun violence. This is clearly a public health matter, if not a public health crisis. The government should fully fund research into gun violence and treat it as the public health crisis that it is.
10. Give ATF and FBI Free Access to Gun Records:  As I wrote in my last blog, the Tiahrt Amendments prevent the FBI and ATF from accessing gun records needed for criminal investigations, https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/other-laws-policies/tiahrt-amendments/. Prohibit these amendments so that law enforcement can have access to gun purchase records and other vital information for as long as necessary. 
11. Require Gun Owners to Carry Liability Insurance: In most places you cannot register a motor vehicle without liability insurance. Why? Because motor vehicles are inherently dangerous and may cause harm to people and property. Guns are extremely dangerous and gun owners should be liable for any harm their guns cause. Requiring liability insurance on all firearms may discourage some people from buying guns, and may prompt gun owners to be more careful with the handling and storage of their guns. 

​Approximately 42% of American households own at least one gun, and there are reportedly more guns in this country than there are people. Clearly gun ownership is a cultural issue, and it takes a lot of time to change cultural norms. But gun regulation is not a cultural issue. It is a legal and political issue, which can be influenced by the courage and will of the people. No matter where you stand on the gun control issue, I think we can all agree that something needs to be done to reduce gun violence in America. Here are some of the major groups that are advocating for there point of view in the gun debate:

​Gun Rights Groups:

• National Rifle Association (NRA):  https://home.nra.org/
• The Second Amendment Foundation: https://www.saf.org/
• Gun Owners of America: https://www.gunowners.org/
• National Association for Gun Rights: https://nationalgunrights.org/

​Gun Control Groups:

• Brady: United Against Gun Violence: https://www.bradyunited.org/
• Everytown for Gun Safety: https://www.everytown.org/
• Giffords: https://giffords.org/
• Guns Down: https://gunsdownamerica.org/

​The debate on guns will certainly outlive me, but it is a debate worth having. Stay informed and let your political leaders know how you feel on this important issue. The worse thing that can happen is if we become numb to all of the gun violence, and chalk it up to the price of freedom. We deserve better. In the immortal words of Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.  

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Thanks,
Armchair American