This is an article that has taken some time for me to write. It started as a response to a Facebook post after the recent shooting at a college campus in Oregon. Shootings bring out hot emotions from people and, as I pondered the issue, I realized it'd be best to let it sit for a while. But here it is:
Can you be pro-gun and still want gun control? Yes, you can. How do I know this? Because I am.
I grew up in rural 'Merica. I had boys take me skeet shooting (I'm a pretty good shot, if I do say so), my dad let us use my uncle's handgun (a 9mm?) to shoot targets when we visited him in Montana, my dads (biological, step, and in-law) all served in the military, and summer family gatherings are usually celebrated in part by shooting cans with BB guns and air soft rifles (there are usually about 10 kids gathered around waiting their turn...always supervised by 1-2 adults).
Yes, I believe (most) Americans have the right to bear arms. Responsibly.
However, my mother is also Canadian and I grew up very near the Canadian border, so the cultural comparison...and melding of cultures...is one I am very familiar with. Very few things, I learned, have to be all or nothing. One side does not need to conquer the other when compromise can be reached.
The issue of gun control is a heated and complicated one. Why? Because it isn't just gun control. When we talk about shootings, we need to consider our mental health system, socioeconomic issues, the American culture of violence (not just guns but in general), and others. However, there are things that can be done and SHOULD be done about regulating guns on a federal level.
"But Vanessa, we don't need a bigger government, let's let the states make their own gun control laws."
As a small government person myself, that sounds fine. But in application that would not work. States have different laws now and MANY straw buyers/criminal networks simply buy guns in states with one set of laws and drive them to a different state to be sold. Yes, gun control changes would need to be federal to be effective. In fact, here is a breakdown from the ATF about how guns get recovered in crimes in the state of Washington, including a migration from other states and time to crime (about 3 years in state of Washington).
We can't fix all the problems that cause gun violence in our society all at once, but I do believe there are some things we can do on the gun side to prevent some gun violence and save thousands of lives. To be fair (and beat you the argument) gun violence HAS gone down the past 20 years and here's a very fair article about it. But when some very basic things, consistently enforced across the country can be done to save thousands of lives, why not do it? Inconvenience is not an argument I will consider. Many things in life are inconvenient, but we deal with it: the DMV, children's birthday parties, etc.
Ok, so what is that would save lives? Federal laws that require registration AND licenses (including education requirements and a 30-60 day wait period) before gun purchases would, in fact, decrease gun crimes. Why? Because most guns used in crimes are purchased through illegal activities of FFL (licensed sellers) and straw buyers; these measures would deter their ability to get/distribute guns.
Countries with the highest reductions of gun crime have great requirements for registration and licensing. Yes, there are other requirements, but licensing (that includes education) is a great start. This way, people can still own their guns but they are not as easily purchased. A great comparison of gun laws by country is located in this article and one that is useful in finding where on the spectrum America can fit.
This means that the best PROVEN plan of attack to keep guns away from people who would use them for illegal purposes is to focus on FFLs and straw buyers with registration and licensing regulations. ENFORCED federal regulations of this would reduce these illegal activities as most people requiring a gun for illegal activity do not want to wait 30-60 days before they get a gun, go through evaluations/training requirements, etc...but if they can't get it any other way then they are SOL. This is a most interesting article about this very issue, I HIGHLY recommend it.
If we wanted to take a step further, we could outlaw guns with short barrels (handguns)...which would definitely bring death rates related to guns down since the majority of guns used in crimes are handguns. And I can almost get on board with that since certainly a rifle or shot gun or assault rifle would allow you to sufficiently protect your home and hunt. Or perhaps if you wanted to own a handgun, you could be required to go through a month-long training course (as with motorcycle endorsements) and get medical mental evaluations performed (as in Japan). Forget the sensasualism of the Left when it comes to automatic rifles, etc. If your goal is reduce gun crime/death, let people keep their shot guns, AK-47s, etc and get rid of hand guns, except for people who undergo medical mental evaluations and thorough training, because THOSE are the weapons used in the majority of gun deaths. It wouldn't infringe on your right to own a gun, just make you take measures to ensure you are qualified and mentally well enough to responsibly use one.
This would allow law-abiding citizens in good mental health to have hand guns for personal protection, etc while also making great strides to keep them out of the hands of shady or unwell characters.
Improvements need to be made in regulating FFAs and the requirements of what it takes to be gun purchaser. The NRA and gun lobbies need to stop their blind support of "all guns all the time to everyone." How do I know? This gun shop, speculated to be one of the worst in the country, was mere miles from the home in which I grew up. Thousands of missing guns and an average of three years of "time to crime" for guns sold from there. It took the ATF EIGHT years to be able to shut it down. That should not happen.
To address the issue of requiring guns be locked up in safes: I believe that EVERY gun should be locked up in safe. Before doing some research, I thought that that requirement/law would significantly reduce gun-related crimes/deaths. However, only 10-15% of guns recovered in crimes were stolen, which isn't a small amount, but much lower than I thought. This leads me to believe that requiring guns to be locked up, while good for personal and domestic safety, would not lead a drastic reduction in crime (if that is our goal). Not only that, but trying enforce such a law would be pretty impossible and probably lead to infringement on other rights.
Washington State has very few registration, license, education requirements to purchase a gun. As cited by the NRA: https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-gun-laws/washington/. Of course this feeds into the fact that, according to WSU coach Mike Leach (go cougs!), these guys (young men) play video games, think it's cool to fire a gun and go out to buy a gun. Pretty much as simply as that.
Canada is not perfect, but we can't compare gun laws without comparing culture. They have no constitutional right to own firearms, however, they do own guns but their rate of gun-related deaths is 1 per every 215,000, whereas the U.S. has a rate of 1 per every 28,000.Culturally, they believe their government will protect them; Americans, especially gun toting Americans, are skeptical of governments ability to do anything let alone protect them, so we take it upon ourselves. This is why guns will never go anywhere, but that doesn't mean changes can't be made so people can still protect themselves but also reduce the amount of guns in dangerous people's hands.
But this comparison of culture also brought me to these facts. My take away from this website is not just gun crime differences, but violent crime in general, especially rape (as a woman, that caught my attention). It is MUCH more likely to occur in the U.S. than Canada. Are Americans inherently more evil than their Canadian counterparts? Less polite, for sure. Evil? I'm not sure. Violent? Absolutely. This supports my main point that violence against our neighbors is not just a gun issue in the US, it is broken culture issue. American culture is a violent culture, with our without guns. But when take our violent culture and give pretty much every citizen (except felons) access to firearms without consistent regulation, of course we have many gun deaths.
Personally, my goal isn't to take away people's guns, but to weed out the people who shouldn't have them. Yes, it may make it harder for good people to get guns, but, really, these are measures responsible gun owners, including the NRA, could and should support. True, bad guys who really want guns will find a way to get them. But, hopefully these tightened regulations would target the apathetic. The people who would be straw buyers. The people who play video games and think they are now qualified to own a gun...and then leave it out for their kid to get a hold of. People who really don't care about gun rights...or human life.
So, yes, you can be pro-gun and want more gun control. As someone who was attacked on Facebook for posting a picture of my kids and nieces/nephews posing with AIR SOFT guns (and defended it with a simple " 'Merica"), I understand the gun culture. But I also understand that more can be done to protect our citizens from our own broken culture and systems.
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