We all keep calling for a responsible discussion and debate. Well, I'm up for having one, and I'll be glad to lay out some common sense legislation as a straw act, from my perspective as one citizen to other citizens, for debate.
I keep hearing about "responsible gun owners" who legally bought their guns having a RIGHT to own and bear arms. Unfortunately, our news is also full of gun deaths after people have irresponsibly owned their guns. For example:
Chardon High School shooting suspect TJ Lane may have used grandfather's gun in attack
Carl Henderson, a 74-year-old friend and neighbor of Lane's grandparents, says the gun was kept in the barn and wasn't noticed missing until after Monday's deadly shootings.
Henderson, who's a former police officer and ex-Geauga County sheriff, says Lane's grandfather has told him he believes it is the same gun.
Or, this one from a number of years ago was at a high school in our district where the
boy fortunately didn't run into the English teacher he told others that he meant to kill and he ended up holding a class hostage before surrendering to police, instead. But not before:
Shrout retrieved a loaded Colt .380 Mustang pistol that morning that his father kept in the Jeep. He emptied the gun to figure out how it worked, then reloaded it. He went to his parents' room where they were sleeping and shot them. "Two reasons why I shot my [2 younger] sisters," Shrout told Goins. "The first one was I didn't want them to have to live without their parents. And also my older sister (Kristin). She had enough intelligence to pick up the phone and call the police ... and I didn't want to be stopped."
Or, just Google
child accidently shoots for one terrible situation after another involving guns being found by children in a home and the tragedies that follow.
How about some sensible legislation about "responsible gun ownership" that could help eliminate THESE situations?
Proposed "Responsible Gun Ownership" Act:
1. ALL guns, of any and all makes and models, must have a lock that prevents them from being fired except by the registered gun owner(s).
a) Guns manufactured after XX date must come equipped with a locking mechanism.
b) Guns manufactured after XX date must have an after-market lock that attaches to the individual gun.
c) Locks may not be a key based lock, but rather must require a PIN, combination, or fingerprint recognition system.
2. Gun owners may never give locking information to any unregistered owner of the gun on penalty of losing "responsible gun ownership rights" for life.
3. No gun may ever be sold without a locking mechanism. (PINs, combinations, and fingerprint IDs must be changed as part of the sale process and registration transfer process at a licensed gun dealer location.) Yeah, no more gun sales at flea market crap. You want a gun? You buy and keep it responsibly.
4. No minors may register guns. Parents may buy a gun for a child; however, that parent will be the registered gun owner and be responsbile for unlocking the weapon without their child learning the combination and re-lockiing the gun after use. Failure to keep locking information secure from a minor, unregistered gun owner will result in loss of "responsible gun ownership" for life.
5. Responsible gun owners will maintain liability insurance for each gun owned. If a registered gun is used in the comission of a crime, then the gun owner shall be responsible for all resulting harm and injury to others. [Gun safes would be a good way for responsible gun owners to have lower insurance rates.]
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Some futher commentary:
IF you are a responsible gun owner and you have an emotionally unstable kid who wants to shoot up his school, he's going to have to get that combination off of you before he gets a chance to kill you and someone else's child. I trust that responsible gun owners will do the responsible thing and STOP HIM!
I'm also in favor of no more mega clips which would at least give us a chance to jump a crazed shooter while they were reloading, but I think this could be a good start in stopping children from killing themselves and others. Background checks, without loopholes, are another area to look into.
Okay, let the debate begin.
2:56 PM PT: One more to add:
6. No gunsmiths can fix a gun that is not brought in with a registered lock matching the gun to be fixed. Penalty for fixing a gun without a lock would be loss of gunsmithing license for 5 years.