Let's talk about gun control.
My heart goes out to all the folks in Newtown today who lost loved ones in the shooting. Especially all the parents of the young children…I cannot imagine having Christmas gifts wrapped and ready to go under the tree and losing the people who were going to open them, whose lives had barely started. My heart breaks at the thought (and I don't even like kids all that much).
So.
Let's talk about gun control.
No, I'm not going to not talk about it. The "let's wait a bit, it's disrespectful to do it now" thing is bullshit. A couple days ago someone shot up a mall. Not long before that, a movie theater. Now we have an entire class of kids -- KIDS! Little kids who are not even ten years old yet! Kids who have not had time to become cynical! -- dead because of guns and we're still refusing to talk about it? No. We're going to fucking talk about it.
Here's an amazing thing: I want more gun control in this country. This does not mean I want to take your gun away. I know, this is a crazy concept.
If you use your gun for hunting or a hobby -- skeet shooting or something similar -- I'm totally cool with that. Heck, if you have a gun in your bedside table that you keep around because it makes you feel safer, I'm cool with that. If you have a collection of firearms that you are keeping because you are waiting until the next revolution/the rise of the Antichrist/Ragnarok, I think you are a bit crazy and we're going to talk about that here.
I believe that gun owners should be required to pass some sort of mental health requirement every six months. Frankly, having seen mental health issues exhibited in people (and knowing one person who basically is a manipulative psychopath go through half a dozen psychologists before someone pinged on it), every quarter would be better, but every six months is a fair middle ground. I also think that if you own a gun, it should be used at least once a year -- again, I think at least once every six months is better in all honesty -- for hobby stuff, hunting, or simply practice in using it. I honestly have no idea if shooting a gun is like riding a bicycle, but I would assume that keeping up in practice is not a bad thing…especially if you're a hobbyist or hunter.
Do I think there should be a limit on the amount of guns people keep? Well, yes, actually, but that's personal opinion. I doubt this is something we could control, and it'd become one of those "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" bumper sticker arguments. But I think if the requirement of regular use every six months or year was maintained, situations where people are building their own militias in their basement may just mellow out a bit. Maybe. It's hard to keep hope in humanity these days.
Someone, I'm sure, will bring up the "Well, cars kill people a lot more often than guns do…should people have to take tests every 6 months to drive?" Ignoring the fact that we have to renew our licenses pretty often, and that some states do have a not-quite-yearly testing requirement (Arizona has one for senior citizens, I know this from living there, so that folks who are going blind or have Alzheimers will not be permitted to drive when it seems like they really shouldn't), cars were not designed specifically to kill people. Neither was alcohol or drugs (well, most kinds of recreational drugs, anyway). Guns were designed for one purpose: to injure and kill. Be it an animal, a person, or just a clay disc, their purpose is for destruction. And I think that if you want to be able to own something with the single purpose of destruction, you should have to prove that you are mentally healthy and capable of owning such an item.
This is just an idea, mind you, a personal concept that I came up with this morning after hearing of the incident. What does everyone here think? More importantly, what do you think we should do? And don't say "We can't change anything" because we are the only ones who can change anything, and being quiet about it will not do a damn thing.
So.
Let's talk about gun control.
No, I'm not going to not talk about it. The "let's wait a bit, it's disrespectful to do it now" thing is bullshit. A couple days ago someone shot up a mall. Not long before that, a movie theater. Now we have an entire class of kids -- KIDS! Little kids who are not even ten years old yet! Kids who have not had time to become cynical! -- dead because of guns and we're still refusing to talk about it? No. We're going to fucking talk about it.
Here's an amazing thing: I want more gun control in this country. This does not mean I want to take your gun away. I know, this is a crazy concept.
If you use your gun for hunting or a hobby -- skeet shooting or something similar -- I'm totally cool with that. Heck, if you have a gun in your bedside table that you keep around because it makes you feel safer, I'm cool with that. If you have a collection of firearms that you are keeping because you are waiting until the next revolution/the rise of the Antichrist/Ragnarok, I think you are a bit crazy and we're going to talk about that here.
I believe that gun owners should be required to pass some sort of mental health requirement every six months. Frankly, having seen mental health issues exhibited in people (and knowing one person who basically is a manipulative psychopath go through half a dozen psychologists before someone pinged on it), every quarter would be better, but every six months is a fair middle ground. I also think that if you own a gun, it should be used at least once a year -- again, I think at least once every six months is better in all honesty -- for hobby stuff, hunting, or simply practice in using it. I honestly have no idea if shooting a gun is like riding a bicycle, but I would assume that keeping up in practice is not a bad thing…especially if you're a hobbyist or hunter.
Do I think there should be a limit on the amount of guns people keep? Well, yes, actually, but that's personal opinion. I doubt this is something we could control, and it'd become one of those "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" bumper sticker arguments. But I think if the requirement of regular use every six months or year was maintained, situations where people are building their own militias in their basement may just mellow out a bit. Maybe. It's hard to keep hope in humanity these days.
Someone, I'm sure, will bring up the "Well, cars kill people a lot more often than guns do…should people have to take tests every 6 months to drive?" Ignoring the fact that we have to renew our licenses pretty often, and that some states do have a not-quite-yearly testing requirement (Arizona has one for senior citizens, I know this from living there, so that folks who are going blind or have Alzheimers will not be permitted to drive when it seems like they really shouldn't), cars were not designed specifically to kill people. Neither was alcohol or drugs (well, most kinds of recreational drugs, anyway). Guns were designed for one purpose: to injure and kill. Be it an animal, a person, or just a clay disc, their purpose is for destruction. And I think that if you want to be able to own something with the single purpose of destruction, you should have to prove that you are mentally healthy and capable of owning such an item.
This is just an idea, mind you, a personal concept that I came up with this morning after hearing of the incident. What does everyone here think? More importantly, what do you think we should do? And don't say "We can't change anything" because we are the only ones who can change anything, and being quiet about it will not do a damn thing.