What I believe:
I do not believe that military-style weapons belong in the untrained hands of every Tom-Dick-and-Harriet. I personally don't think they should be available for commercial sale, but if we can't make that happen, then let's compromise: if you want to own a gun, fine. You want to graduate to a military style weapon, prove proficiency in its handling, use, and storage.
I believe that ALL firearms sales should be subject to a background check and that the background checking system be expanded and improved.
I believe that some of taxes collected from the sale of firearms should be used to support funding for law enforcement programs that emphasize gun safety (especially to train kids in school what to do when they "find" a gun). For those who say, "That is what the NRA does". Great. Provide real numbers on what they spend on gun safety education for kids vs. what they spend on lobbying and salaries, along with statistics on how comprehensive their child gun safety education is in its content and scope. Let's have that conversation. The NRA is a valuable resource in this area.
I believe that the law hindering the sale of 'smart guns' should be repealed (something the NJ lawmaker herself has offered to do).
I believe there should be a limit to magazine capacity. You have a right to bear arms, but you do not have a right an excessively sized magazine. There has been no instancewhere a person used more than 50 rounds to defend themselves... and if you need that many for sport hunting... well...
I believe that the same laws and reasoning used to report and track purchases of things like explosives, etc, should be put in place to report and track purchases of things like body armor, high capacity magazines, armor piercing bullets (or any of the other tools typically used by mass shooters).
I believe that if your negligence in the cleaning, storing, securing, or handling of your firearm results in death or injury to another person, that you should be criminally charged. Period.
I believe gun owners should be required to acquire and maintain insurance.
I believe that gun registrations should expire (like drivers licenses) requiring the owner's acumen, eyesight, etc to be re-assessed.
I believe that the law disallowing CDC funds for the collection and studying of gun violence should be repealed.
There are no gun accidents,
There is only gun negligence. You either know there is a bullet in the chamber or not; you either store your weapon safely or you don't; you either handle your gun with the safety on and in a safe manner or you don't. The NRA's cardinal rules of gun safety should not be suggestions -- they should be LAWS. And when one violates them, there should be automatic criminal charges, up to and including the revocation of that person's right to ever own a firearm again. Owning a gun is a conditional Constitutional right and a public trust. The unarmed are trusting the legally-armed to be responsible and to act responsibly.
What I do not understand is why some who own guns fight so hard against people like me. I know that we do not agree on all of the things that I propose, but I would bet that we agree on some. Where we agree, we work together make law. Where we disagree, we work together to compromise...because all of us (both armed and unarmed) have a vested interest on the issue of gun safety.
IMO, it should absolutely anger responsible gun owners when someone is negligent and/or abuses the power of the firearm entrusted to them. Instead of defending those people, deflecting the conversation to how many kids die in swimming pools, or making other excuses...responsible gun owners should be standing with me (and others like me) to weed out the irresponsible people who jeopardize the public's safety and its trust.
Every single week since 2013, there has been a MASS shooting. We need to do better. If we work together, we can do better.
[This is a repost of a blog I wrote in 2012, and then posted here in 2015. Sadly, it needs reposting in 2018.]