Labels

Thursday, February 15, 2018

There Is Nothing We Can Do?

The Omnivore doesn't need to tell you what happened.

Here's what you need to know:


  1. Gun advocates, as a whole, have decided that dead kids are the price of their freedom and that it's a fair trade.
  2. They'll point out that dead babies are the price of legal abortion--but most of America doesn't consider a 1st or 2nd trimester pregnancy a baby
    • Having a gun advocate tell you "well, they're wrong" means you've argued them into a corner. It's a judgment call that people legitimately get to make. No one advocates killing babies.
    • It's worth noting that the NRA is against legislation banning non-firing REPLICA weapons. In other words, not only is a fetus a baby but a non-firing replica gun is also a gun.
    • This is stupid.
What We Can Do

It has become fashionable to say there is no valid solution being offered by the "gun control guys" and that "none of the offered solutions would stop the school shootings. This is never said by the "gun control guys"--it's said by the gun advocates.

So let's put an end to this. Here are solutions that can, and would, have an impact without banning a single gun.
  1. National Firearms Database - This would link serial numbers of guns to purchasers. When a gun is recovered today it is exceedingly difficult to find out who it was sold to. The database would do 2 things. (a) It would help law-enforcement trace the origin of guns. (b) It would prevent sketchy parking lot gun sales: if I know the gun is in my name I am not going to sell it to sketchy-bob unless he performs the legal transfer of the ID-ownership.
  2. Better Gun Stats - The gun advocacy group has stopped the government from collecting good gun stats on the theory that it'll be used against them. Time to end this. Set up as non-partisan a group as you can and aggressively collect stats on shooting.
  3. Harden School Doors - If this sounds like "giving up" consider that it worked after 9/11. It could mitigate loss of life. Build them so that SWAT teams have an entry key.
  4. Let Gun Sellers Flag Customers - If a customer "doesn't seem right" have a method to flag them. This will involve a notifcation to Law Enforcement, a background check, and a social media scan (done with the help of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). If flags show up, Law Enforcement can check them out.
  5. Ban Military Profile Weapons - It is noteworthy that while hunting style guns exist with the exact same capabilities as the "Assault Weapons" (rifles with pistol grips) these have never been used in modern shootings. There is a reason for that--the psychological profile of the shooter is that he is a soldier. He wants a soldier-style weapon.
  6. Require Military Profile Weapons to be Painted PINK - Same theory. If this enrages a gun adovcate you know, well, that's how you know it'd be (somewhat) effective. 
  7. Have a State Voluntarily Participate In A 1-Decade Test Of Gun Licensing - Make it a test case, expires in 10 years (or 5, whatever). Buying a gun requires: A background check, a mental health exam, a social media scan, and a weapon competency test. See if that helps.
  8. Limit Magazine Size to 5 Rounds - Although millions of 30-Round magazines have been sold, most of them have not been sold to highschool shooters. If newly available magazines are limited to 5 rounds this will severely impact a rampage. Yes, an experienced shooter can swap them out or carry more guns--but, uh, if you are an experienced shooter and you think a 5 round limit wouldn't dampen your rampage you're fucking lying.
Don't let anyone tell you there's "nothing we can do"--there's a bunch of stuff.

1 comment: