Addressing Gun Violence

I've been pretty vocal about what won't work to curb gun violence, which has led a few folks to challenge me on what I think would be effective.  In my opinion, there are larger societal issues that require addressing that would yield greater benefits than screwing with gun laws.  But, no one wants to talk about them, so I guess we'll address the symptoms and skip the cure for now.

My suggested gun measures generally fall into two categories; preventing the wrong people from getting their hands on them and heading off unwanted behavior, once guns are in hand.  

These require a bit of give and take from both sides, but I think they'd yield dividends.

Keeping Guns Out Of The Wrong Hands

Minimum Age To Buy a Gun - 21...this seems like a no brainer to me.

Expanded Background Checks Required For ALL Gun Purchases - Apparently, there are still states (including my own, NC) where private gun sales aren't required to go through an FFL and thus, have a background check performed.  That's fucking batshit!  The "expanded" part would involve including things such as mental health issues, sealed or expunged criminal records, and protection orders.  So many crimes are pled down to lesser offenses that don't trip the threshold for failing a background check.  This measure is probably the most important, but will require a major expenditure on infrastructure to link everything.  

Stronger Measures to Prevent and Prosecute Straw Purchases* - A not insignificant number of the guns used to commit felonies, including murder, are obtained illegally and straw purchases are one method used by these criminals.  ATF has been doing spot checks, where individuals have bought a bunch of the same gun in a short period.  

Safe Storage Laws With Stiff Penalties For Violations - If you have guns and kids at home, they should be locked up, period (the guns, obviously; kids are optional).  Anyone whose kid commits a crime with that gun will automatically be charged with the same crime, but as an adult.  If the police are required to visit the home and see a gun not locked up, the owner may be charged.  Oh, it's a felony that's ineligible for a plea deal.

Optimize Conduct For Those Who Own Guns

Mandatory Training for New Gun Buyers - Standardized training and curricula, to include basic gun safety, base level laws (i.e. is transporting your gun in a box on your car's back seat legal?), and most importantly, a lengthy presentation showing gunshot wounds from both handguns and rifles.  This could also work to keep guns out of the wrong hands, because the instructor would have the latitude to fail a student if they acted in an erratic or suspicious manner (i.e. an instructor told me of a student who asked him about shooting police dogs and why couldn't he.  GONE).

National Concealed Carry Permit w/ Standardized Training Process - If you intend to carry a gun, you should be required to understand the applicable laws specific to lethal force, and demonstrate your ability to safely handle and shoot a gun.  Like the new buyer training, the curricula should be standardized.  I've been force to take carry classes in KS and NC; the KS one was a joke but I was impressed with the course in NC.  Passing gets you a concealed carry permit that's good across all 50 states.  

End Constitutional Carry - Fun fact on one of the many downsides:  Constitutional carry is state specific, so you still can't carry in federal no gun zones.  For example school, zones (1,000 feet radius around the facility) are defined in US code.  That means if you drive by a school with a gun in your possession, you're committing a felony.  

Red Flag Laws -  If someone has clearly become a danger to themselves or others, they shouldn't be in possession of guns, period.  Also, if you have a PFA against you, your guns are confiscated until the case is adjudicated.  If the PFA's duration lacks an end date, cope harder.  The danger with this one is it could be abused by vindictive sorts.  

Common Sense Extras
Allocate Resources for Mental Health Access in Schools - The GQP, who claims there's a mental health crisis, consistently shoots this measure down.  Let's stop fucking around with our kids, shall we?

Removal of Silencers** and SBR's From The National Firearms Act (NFA) - Silencers aren't deadly unless perhaps if you bludgeon someone with one.  Even one of the heads of the ATF indicated they should be removed from the NFA.  Worth mentioning is the approval time for a silencer is a YEAR or more, which is bullshit, no matter what your position on guns. Short barreled rifles are another stupid one; if you have a carry permit for your pistol, why can't you carry an SBR (that you can't conceal anyway)?  

Fuck the ATF - These rat bastards are becoming more draconian every year, by changing the rules or making them up on the fly, resulting in law abiding citizens becoming felons, literally overnight.  They just changed the criteria for who was considered a gun dealer and it's so broad as to include half of gun owners in the country.  I guess the measure would be to strip their power to constantly reinterpret gun laws in order to boost their arrest numbers and generally be douche canoes.  

Perhaps the last two aren't common sense to non gun owners, but they'd mean a lot to those of us who own guns and could serve as sufficiently solid concessions in order to gain traction on passing measures the 2A crowd wouldn't like.  

* Straw Purchase - When a person who'll pass a background check purchases guns in order to resell to those who would be denied.  Also used as a way to bypass local gun restrictions (i.e. Indiana residents buying guns and selling them to Chicago residents).

** Silencers don't make a gun silent, as Hollywood would lead you to believe.  I own a suppressed 300 Blackout AR-15 rifle, with a Form 1 silencer that's been specifically designed for the cartridge mounted to it.  The combination is documented to be in the 120 dB range and is the quietest option out there.  For reference, a commercial jet taking off is about the same loudness.  Car horns average 110 dB.  A suppressed rifle round measures 132 dB with a really good suppressor on it, which is the same sound level as a jackhammer.  Also, a rifle round creates a sonic boom (sounds like a crack) because it breaks the sound barrier.  

This entry is part of my "Gun Series" that focuses on providing insight into the gun debate and gun violence.  You can find the other entries in the series HERE.  

About the author: Sean R is a recovering conservative who owns a consulting firm specializing in strategic marketing.  He's been a competitive shooter since the early 90's and holds a High Master classification in PPC and a Master classification in USPSA.  Additionally, he's served as an instructor for gun safety and competition courses.  He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his overly vocal white dog, Sadie.