My position on gun control.
But first lets cut through the political hype and hysteria.
Fact: there were 39,773 reported gun deaths in 2018.
Fact: 14,611 of those were deaths by gun violence.
Fact: 992 were death by police shootings.
Fact: 23,854 of those were suicides by gun. Nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides
Fact: number of mass shootings (as defined by FBI) - shootings 323, dead 387 and 1274 injured.
Fact: rifles account for about 4% of all gun deaths in 2018.
Fact: there are already two existing federal background check laws on the books, the Brady act (Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted OCT. 22, 1968 and PUBLIC LAW 90-618 - November 30, 1993)
November 30, 1993)
As a rational for licensing guns, references are made and compared to motor vehicle licensing, hardly a “poster boy” for gun control Safety. so lets take a look.
Fact: estimates of traffic deaths in the U.S. topped 40,000 last year. 4.5 million people were seriously injured. Licensing vehicles hasn’t stopped the carnage on our highways and licensing guns will not stop gun violence, but it will provide a convenient tax base for the politicians to exploit when they need more funds to squander.
Licensing guns could also be perceived as a precursor to gun confiscation, (which has already surfaced) playing right into the NRA’s narrative.
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| More deaths from licensed vehicles then unlicensed guns |
Yes - ban all assault weapons and assault weapon magazines - ban all other magazines over 8-10 round capacity - instigate a voluntary buyback program for assault weapons with a FAIR market values for gun purchases. Estimated number assault weapons in private hands - 10 million or more, average value of an assault weapon in good condition - $500 to $600. The government would need to appropriate over 5 billion dollars for the buyback program.
Yes to background checks with emphasis on persons association with hate and anti-government groups as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
We already have background check laws, they only need to be expanded to include gun shows and etc.
Yes to “red flag” legislation provided (I want to be quite clear on this) the legislation contains strong language to protect against individual and governmental abuse of the law. Very easy to use the law as a tool of revenge or intimidation.
In reality, the most affective action to take would be to form a task force similar to the one currently used to protect our country against foreign terrorist, to closely monitor activities of all hate and anti-government groups as well as “lone wolfs” threats.
I hope I’ve not lest the impression that I’m anti-gun control, nothing could be further from the truth. I believe that something must be done to address and curb the slaughter, but it must be done in a sane and sensible manner and peoples rights must be respected in the process.
If not handled in an sensible and judicious manner, by congress, this issue has the potential to turn millions of law abiding gun owners into instant criminals.
"separating the wheat from the chaff"
