Talking About Guns

Trey Smith

Yesterday, I suggested we needed to talk about guns and so today I'm taking my own advice. But guns are only one part of the equation. A society permeated in violence must be discussed as well.

I've already stated that, if I had my way, guns would be outlawed for personal use. However, I realize in our society that ain't gonna happen, so we need to devise other strategies. Personally, I favor criminal background checks AND psychological examinations for ANYONE who wants to purchase a gun for personal use. While this strategy would not mean that every person who is not psychologically fit to own a gun would be weeded out -- a lot of people show few signs of mental illness UNTIL they commit a heinous act -- I think we all should be able to agree that it would weed out a significant number of individuals who have no business possessing a firearm.

If you want to own a gun, you should be required to complete firearms safety training BEFORE you can purchase one and gun owners should be mandated to update their training every year or two. It blows my mind that its easier in this country to purchase a gun (in most states) than it is to obtain a driver's license!

Another strategy I favor is an outright ban on so-called assault weapons. I can think of no reasonable rationale for a private citizen to own one. You don't need it for hunting because you would obliterate the meat or fur of the hunted animal.

I also favor outlawing high volume gun clips. There are very few scenarios I can imagine when a lawful gun owner would need to fire rapidly 10, 12, 15 or more rounds. It might be fun to do, but there really isn't a need for it.

I realize that law-abiding gun owners will say that such stringent regulations would penalize or punish them for the vile acts of few unhinged people. My response to that is: So what? Yes, you may be inconvenienced, but are you saying that your inconvenience is more important than saving innocent lives?

As I see it, the problem we have in the US today is that, we have gone so overboard to protect the rights of people who would never use a gun to commit a heinous act, we concurrently have made it easier for those individuals who might commit heinous acts to obtain the weaponry to allow them to carry out such acts with greater procession and ferocity.

While it may be true -- though this is not certain -- that an individual who has set his mind to commit atrocities could do so with a weapon other than a gun, recent history clearly has shown that guns ARE the weapons of choice. They allow an unstable individual to wreak the most damage with minimal effort and not much danger to himself. Yes, a crossbow, sword or slingshot could be used, but it won't amount to the kind of carnage that can be inflicted with a gun, particularly an assault weapon.

Faced with these facts, it is just commonsense that we need to work diligently to keep guns, as much as possible, out of the hands of those individuals who would use them for nefarious purposes. If this means some inconvenience for the rest of us, I think that's a fair price to pay in order to safeguard society.

But this overall issue is not solely about guns and so, in my next post, I will address the violence that permeates our society.