The Gun Store
Virtually every aspect of American life is regulated. You can’t cut hair or sell insurance without a license. You can’t own or drive a car without a license, registration and insurance. Most places, you need to get a license to build an extension on your house, change the wiring, or even put up a new roof. You need a license for your dogs and cats.
So what is such a big deal about requiring gun licensing and registration? We control and limit citizens’ access to all kind of things, from drugs to explosives. What makes guns sacred? Don’t tell me about the Constitution. We have reinterpreted many aspects of the constitution to align with the realities of modern life. There is no reason guns can’t be treated the same way as anything else.
The arguments against sensible gun control are specious. If we control who can drive a car and how that car can be driven, and there exists a staggering number of traffic regulations — enforced with considerable vigor — at least an equivalent level of regulation seems appropriate for weapons.
I would never want to limit my right — or yours — to own a car, unless there’s a good reason. Such as eyesight so poor you are not able to safely operate a vehicle. Or your having been arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or being unable to pay for at least minimal insurance and registration. Or you can’t pass the driver’s test.
It would be irresponsible to give licenses to blind, drunk, or incapable drivers, wouldn’t it? How could equivalent oversight not be appropriate for guns?
Butch Cassidy’s gun sold for $175,000.
My Easy Peasy Plan
To own a gun, you have to pass a test to make sure you know how to shoot and care for a weapon, as well as keep it out of the hands of anyone but you. You need to be able to see well enough to properly aim a gun and be able to hit the target. You need to be pass a background check so we know you aren’t a felon or a dangerous wacko.
You need to register your guns. All of them. You must know where they are and you may not lend it to anyone. If a gun is lost or stolen, you are responsible for reporting its disappearance. You are required to have gun liability insurance on any weapon you own that contains a firing pin. If any weapon registered to you is used in an illegal act, causes harm to others, with or without your consent, you are responsible for damages. If you don’t go to jail, you may still wind up in court.
The nation, as well as individual states and counties can tax your weapons and refuse to license weapons deemed inappropriate for private owners. If you want a weapon that is considered unsuitable, you will have to get a different license, not to mention provide an explanation.
Simple, isn’t it? We license cars because cars are potentially dangerous; you can kill someone with a car. All this regulation doesn’t mean we don’t own cars. Obviously we own a lot of cars. We simply try to control who is allowed to drive and keep track of who owns what. It doesn’t mean we can keep every drunk off the road, prevent all accidents or stop joy-riding kids, but we do the best we can.
I have yet to hear a coherent argument against this plan — probably because there isn’t any. Guns should be regulated like every other dangerous thing.
Related articles
- Bill would require gun insurance (wwlp.com)
- MY TAKE – If we regulated guns like cars (hollandsentinel.com)
- Would gun liability insurance help? (wwlp.com)
January 23, 2013 at 1:58 pm
Tighter gun control won’t stop the professional killers, the street gangs, the lunatics or those “nice, quiet” folks who go off on killing sprees. But it will LOWER the level of violence and there will be FEWER collateral damage victims. The pro gun voices who scream about their constitutional right/s should walk in the shoes of those of us who’ve seen bodies of innocent victims, grieving families and numbed communities on an almost daily basis. You’ll NEVER be quite the same and you’ll be FOREVER haunted somewhere in your subconscious — regardless of your politics. I have 40 plus years of those haunting images to offer as exhibit A!!
January 23, 2013 at 4:00 pm
People who say there’s no point in laws because some people will ignore them piss me off. Funny that they don’t say this about anything else, just guns, like guns are somehow exempt from the regulations we impose on every other aspect of life. If you can’t cut hair without a license how come you can own a gun with less oversight than hair-cutting shears? I don’t think the second amendment exempts guns from regulation … that “well-regulated militia” doesn’t say UN-regulated militia.
I know you still have nightmares about this stuff. I don’t know how you live with it.
January 22, 2013 at 7:19 am
I think it’s obvious some gun owners wish to remain under the radar of “Big Brother”. They don’t anyone to know about their growing arsenal. That way, when true totalitarian government takes over “Big Brother” knows what to remove from your house.
I neither own a gun or have a wish to own a gun. That doesn’t mean I’m for gun control or gun ownership. I just want a 5 or 6 year old to be able to go to school without fear of being shot. Legislation never fixed a damn thing. Nut cases don’t care about the law, licensing or regulation. The only thing better than owning an assault weapon is knowing someone who own a licensed assault weapon. That’s what happened in Connecticut.
January 22, 2013 at 9:13 am
If everyone was held to a fair level of responsibility and liability, a lot fewer weapons would be roaming around loose. I’ m not suggesting you can solve all problems with a single law. But you sure aren’t going to solve any problems by giving up without even trying. Nutcases and felons won’t care about laws but most guns start life as legally purchased weapons, so most gun crime ultimately starts with an irresponsible gun owner who probably meant no harm. Illegal guns get into circulation through legal sales. If everyone is held responsible for the damage their guns do, whether or not they personally are holding it at the time, if they knew they’d wind up in court paying out judgments large enough to put a serious dent in their financial safety net, they would sit up and take notice. Laws can make a difference, but you first have to create them, then enforce them. It’s when the law breaks down or isn’t enforced that catastrophes occur.
January 22, 2013 at 9:32 am
Indeed the topic of guns in the hands of civilians is a very complicated issue. There are already plenty of laws on the books. You can’t stop bad guys from getting them and you can’t keep nut cases from stealing/acquiring them. The history of mass murderers bears that out. Truly locking up & securing your weapons is paramount but how do you enforce this logical requirement? I don’t have the answers because we’re dealing with human beings who are fundamentally flawed.
January 22, 2013 at 9:53 am
If owners know they are going to wind up getting their asses sued and dragged through courts, possibly losing everything because someone else had their gun and used it, they would have a less casual attitude toward gun security. They may not care about the law, but they always care about their money.
January 22, 2013 at 7:05 am
Public sentiment is influenced, often unknowingly, by the people and corporations that make money off of said influence. Like drug companies that convince us we have the latest ailment and need medication, the gun industry has convinced us that we are in peril and we need to arm ourselves for protection. Sadly, they make LOTS of money off of the death or injury to others, and we have allowed them to do it, all in the name of “our rights.”
January 22, 2013 at 9:18 am
True, but whether it’s controlling guns or trying to ban pet shop puppy sales, not trying at all gets you nowhere. We have to make an effort and not roll over and submit. The powers that be get that way because WE let them.