Want to get rid of gun violence? Here’s a way to do it, and I guarantee it will work. No fuss, no muss, no bother. Here’s what we need to do.
Get the Democrats in Congress (forget the Republicans) to pass a law which says it is illegal to own or possess any semi-automatic gun which loads from a magazine inserted from beneath the frame. This designation will remove from the civilian arsenal at least three-quarters, if not more, of the guns which are used to kill and injure 125,000 Americans every year.
And by the way, these were the types of guns what were used to kill 18 people in Georgia and Colorado over the last week.
Here’s the twist. The law will also require that everyone who currently owns such a gun needs to turn it in, no questions asked. When the gun is surrendered, the guy gets paid for giving up property which was legally purchased at some point in time.
How many of these guns are out there? I’m probably pretty close to the real number if I say there are 20 million such long guns, and 80 million handguns, give or take a million here or there.
How much are they worth? The long guns were probably bought for around a thousand bucks apiece. The handguns went for half that amount. As Bill Clinton would say, do the math. I’ll do it for you – it totals 60 billion bucks.
Right now, Joe is preparing to send a spending bill to Congress with a $3 trillion price tag. What’s $60 billion of that number worth? Try 2 percent.
Look at it another way. The latest report, probably somewhat overstated, is that gun violence costs us $280 billion very year. So, for the sake of argument, let’s say it’s only $250 billion. Spend 2% of the money we are setting aside to fix all the potholes to save $250 billion annually which doesn’t even begin to reflect the pain and suffering felt by families and friends of people shot with guns?
The whole thing might cost a bit more because we’d have to buy off Joe Manchin with some little doodad for the residents of West Virginia, maybe some extra bucks for all Bernie’s gun huggers in Vermont. What the hell, a penny spent is a penny earned.
If we have learned one thing from the last two weeks, it’s that the only way we will end gun violence in this country is to get rid of the guns which are used to commit the violence each and every day. Comprehensive background checks won’t do a goddamn thing, ditto ‘red flag’ laws, ditto mandated safety courses, ditto, ditto, and ditto.
Sorry, but the public health template that was used to reduce auto injuries doesn’t work for guns. Cars are made to get you from here to there. If the car doesn’t get you from here to there, it’s either because it needs to be redesigned or you need to drive in a safer way.
On the other hand, the guns that were used to kill 18 people in two mass shootings, never mind another 100 or so gunshot victims who were shot randomly here and there, were designed to do exactly what they were used to do.
Want to continue promoting the nonsense that an AR-15 is a ‘sporting’ gun? Go right ahead. I’m sure both the Proud Boys and QAnon followers will agree. By now, Alex Jones is probably saying that the shootings in Atlanta and Boulder didn’t actually occur.
Right now, there may be enough momentum behind Joe’s legislative energy and a general disgust about anything which smacks of Mister Orange Head’s response to any problem, to get this deal done.
The day this bill is introduced, we need to make sure that Orange Head calls up one of his media sycophants on Fox and announces that the measure is nothing more than another nefarious attempt to enlarge the chokehold of the Deep State.
Think Congress wouldn’t vote this law through?
Mar 23, 2021 @ 09:38:55
you are a moron no law will change peoples behavior.
Mar 23, 2021 @ 10:13:35
You are correct. That is the reason to get rid of guns that are designed to kill as many people as possible as quick as possible. It is not legal to own a 50 caliber Howitzer, or a laws rocket, or a land mine, or a bazooka, or a nuclear bomb. They are designed to kill as many people as possible. There is only one legal firearm type that can kill a room full of people in a few seconds. These have to become illegal!
Mar 23, 2021 @ 13:16:03
“One man with a gun can control 100 without one. …Make mass searches and hold executions for found arms.”
V.I.Lenin
Lets just let the police and military have semi-automatics. If you subscribe to this rhetoric, do an internet search for “Officer reprimanded after pointing rifle at South Beach apartment during takedown; couple arrested” Posted on 7 News Miami, March 18, 2021. (It doesn’t take long to find many more reports of “trained” officers mishandling their firearms)
As one who was drafted for Vietnam I witnessed, on many occasions, the mishandling of firearms by “trained soldiers.”
I know of a person who has has “at least seven unintended discharges” of his firearm. I believe I would feel saver being around him than I would being around many trained police officers.
P.S. What do you do, or should you do to those who fail to turn in their guns?
Mar 25, 2021 @ 21:32:29
Actually, the best way to get these weapons off the street is to ban any semi-auto firearm capable of accepting a magazine with a capacity of over 10 rounds. Nothing about “cosmetic features”. Then add in a buyback. The possibility of registering as a NFW weapon should exist as well.
To answer Alan’s question about “What do you do, or should you do to those who fail to turn in their guns?” Well, short of a house to house search which would be costly and unpopular: do what other countries have done. Only arrest people if the firearm turns up in a crime. Given that public possession would be a crime, that is one option. Many of these countries hold firearms amnesties where the weapon can be turned in with no questions asked or penalties.
While I am on the side of strictly regulating firearms, I think the reality is that it will be a long way off before it ever happens. Seriously, think of all the massacres and carnage firearms have caused in the United States. 20 odd toddlers getting shot didn’t do it. The Las Vegas shooting didn’t do it.
The reality is that the US will pay the cost of gun violence monetarily and in body counts until the country collapses because it is an idiocracy.
Mar 26, 2021 @ 12:30:10
lacithedog, thanks for addressing my question. I understand your answer, but as for the house to house search being costly, I believe the U.S. Constitution would be another obstacle to overcome.
For the other countries…they don’t have a Constitution like we have in America. Many of these countries have subjects not citizens. I’ve witnessed many people die for our Constitution, and I would like to keep it just the way it is.
I believe people are, for the most part, being arrested if firearms are used or turn up in a crime. My experience is that most arrest, when a firearm in used, the firearm charge is dismissed.
Every year hundreds, if not thousands of people lie when they complete the ATF Firearms Transaction Record (form 4473) and yet how many are prosecuted each year? There was a report published by the Government Accountability Office found that many individuals who are prohibited from purchasing firearms for any reason are rarely investigated or prosecuted when they try to buy weapons. I believe there is no better place to start in stopping those who shouldn’t have a firearm, and that is at the point-of-sale. So, if just possession would be a crime, how is that going to work when the goverment isn’t prosecuting for the attempted possession as it is now. (No need for a new law…the law is already codified)
As for amnesty periods…many countries have them and so do many cities in the U.S. have them as well.
Thanks again lacithedog for addressing my question, my response is given with respect.
Apr 28, 2021 @ 14:59:31
The only countries I know of that do Amnesties are the UK and Australia: neither of which has done house to house searches. the usual practise is to say there is a period when people can turn in their unwanted firearms without penalty.
When I was at USAO-DC, the person who I worked with wanted to see any amnesty have a check to see if the turned in weapon was a crime gun. That defeats the purpose since who would want to turn in a crime gun??