why can we not come up with some "common sense" gun legislation? Apparently our elected politicians aren't even capable of a civil discussion on the topic so I have taken it upon myself to come up with a few ideas and share them here with the STEEMIT community. For those of you who are politically connected feel free to share this with your representative.
First and foremost, we need to quit demonizing firearms, and instead learn about how the function and operate. to know how to combat anything you need to know its advantages and strengths, as well as the flaws and limitations. Educating the public on all aspects of firearms, whether they own, want to own, or don't have a desire to own a gun, is critical and by far the single most effective tool to combat gun violence.
We also need to eliminate the notion that we can ban or limit the availability of a particular weapon, style of firearm, accessory or ammunition. In today's globally connected world if something is wanted, it can be obtained. With the advancement of 3D printers a simple hardware store spring and a block of plastic can be turned into a high capacity ammunition magazine. You can order a disassembled AK-47 from Russia and have it fully operational in less than a day. Many hunting rifles are designed to take down large game animals, but could easily penetrate military body armor. Will these high powered rifles be deemed too dangerous if used to inflict violence?
here are my 7 real solutions:
1. Grant firearm safety training classes to all citizens of the United States, free of charge. Classes on proper use of firearms, safety at home and around children, proper storage, would be widely available. Education is the best defense and our government should encourage civilians to be informed about firearms and their attributes.
2. As well as firearm safety training, training needs to be provided to combat active shooter situation. classes would cover how to identify suspicious behavior and objects, when to flee, fight or hide, and how to disarm shooters if all else fails. For instance, if a shooter is using a AR-15 and a confrontation is unavoidable, a unarmed civilian could get "inside" the barrel zone of the gun and a push of the magazine release button will drop the magazine to the floor, emptying the gun of all but one round. A risky move, but could render the shooter harmless for long enough to subdue him.
3.Raise Firearm safety awareness and encourage responsible gun storage and use by offering incentives for gun safes and locks required free of charge with all gun sales.
4. Make universal background checks mandatory and nationwide. Many states already require background checks and it is little inconvenience to most gun buyers. I will point out that many criminals can and do acquire guns illegally, so this is mostly just throwing a bone to the anti gun nuts out there.
5.Lets employ our veterans to protect us here at home, giving them a sense of renewed duty and a well deserved paycheck. Soldiers with impeccable military records that have been mentally evaluated and received proper training for their new job of protection public places. Schools, malls, airports, train stations - wherever a potential threat could be, they could guard us and give the public peace of mind knowing that a soldier will be able to respond if terror strikes.
6. all firearm related crimes should be treated with serious consequences and firearm rights revoked when an individual shows malicious, negligent or careless use of a firearm that endangered themselves or others. These rights may be restored if a judge allows so.
7. Finally, my favorite idea - once which also ties into the debate on police use of force, is to start the process of fully incorporating next gen Virtual Reality and Augmented reality into police training simulators, and eventually requiring desired performance mandatory in the simulator to become a police officer. departments do use simulators already, but budgets are lacking and hours logged per officer are often very low. VR and AR is also rapidly advancing and will see huge leaps in the next few years. Once police departments fully adopted the technology it could start to be implemented in concealed carry licensing courses, firearm training and hunter safety classes.
So there you have it. Common sense gun solutions are out there. Feel free to post some of your own ideas to combat firearm violence. This is also my first full length STEEMIT post so steemit up if you please. I look forward to participating more.