Gun Control

Ah the fun times of the gun debate. One side says that owning a gun is their god given right. The other says that limiting guns will limit gun related crimes. Each year 6000 gun related homicides go unsolved. This doesn’t include other crimes where a gun is used but no one dies, such as assaults or robberies. The percentage of solved homicides has dropped from 90% solved to 65% solved since the 1960s. But I think that during this debate over guns, we’re missing an essential truth. Sure if guns are limited, violent criminals will just find a different way to kill people. And sure criminals will just find another way to get guns. Here’s the thing. Gun registration is a tool to be used AFTER a crime.

You see, we already have laws against murder, attacking people, and stealing. New gun laws aren’t going to change that. The gun laws aren’t going to take away guns people have. The gun laws will let law enforcement know who has the guns, so if a crime is committed, they’ll know for whom to look.

Here’s my gun law. Every gun must have a ballistics record. The striations, a spent shell casing, the serial number, and owner information would be kept in a database that only law enforcement agencies can access. Gun owners would have to pass a safety/proficiency test every two years. Every five years, they would have to pass a psych evaluation.

Selling a gun, would update that database with the new information and the old owner would have its ballistics checked again, to prove that it’s the same gun. Prospective owners could request a “carfax” type of report that would show how many previous owners the gun has had and if it’s been implicated in any crimes. When someone requests said report, and if it were a “gun of interest” in a case, it would be flagged, so law enforcement could investigate. Perhaps the gun was used to kill someone, but they couldn’t find the gun. Then someone tries to sell that gun. Red flag. Anyone who fails to get it tested, or fails to report a sale, would be arrested.

So let’s say that a crime is committed and a gun is used. The police find a shell casing. They do their ballistics check on the gun, and then scan the database. It matches the bullet to the gun. Turns out the owner committed the crime. Crime solved.

On a COMPLETELY unrelated note, I don’t think certain people should be allowed to have guns. People with certain mental illnesses or a history of violence, for instance. The thing is, this has nothing to do with politics. If a republican wants a gun, fine. I don’t care. Most of them are responsible with their guns. They always say that it’s “bad people” with guns. Agreed. So I want to stop the “bad people” from getting the guns. If you are a responsible gun owner. If you keep your guns in a secure enclosure where no one can get to it. If you just use it to hunt or whatever, I’m fine with that. But I seriously doubt that the constitution intended for schizophrenics or violent abusive people to have guns.

Just like my recent rant to religious people. Gun lobby, prove your guns are safe, and we’ll leave you alone. But all these gun deaths are making all of you look bad. If you can control them, great. But if not, legislation will have to fix the problem. Control your crazies and stupids, or we will.