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Author Topic:   Suggestion

DerekM posted 07-21-99 07:58 AM ET
How about a law that does the following:
1) Provide significant Federal subsidies for firearms safety training (say, a 2-day course).
2) Require this training prior to purchasing a weapon. Current owners would not have to take the training unless they purchased a new weapon.
3) Provide additional funding for background checks -- make the process more efficient so that the checks are actually done on time, all the time.
4) Require checks with any sale of a firearm -- make it illegal for anybody to sell to a person convicted of a felony or who has a history of mental illness.
5) Provide more funding and a punishment incentive to the ATF to enforce existing gun laws -- crack down on the few rogue dealers and such.
6) Impose manditory sentencing for firearms violations (possession of a machine gun without a license, use of a firearm in a crime, etc.). I honestly don't know how universal this already is -- this may already be the case in many states.
7) Require the use of a lock or cabinet in any household with children below the age of 16. Most of the prosecutions here would be in addition to other crimes, or after an accident involving a child.
Something tells me that the NRA would scream at these "draconian restrictions on their right to bear arms."
Beta1 posted 07-21-99 08:53 AM ET
Ben Elton once said there should be only one question when they check to see if your suitable to own a machinegun.
"Do you want to own a machine gun"
Answering yes immediately disqualifies you from owning one.
Beta-1,
Trappist posted 07-21-99 01:40 PM ET
Of course, those proposed regulations would not prevent me, as an adult with no previous convictions, from buying a gun, learning to use it(subsidised!) and then blowing away a few dozen schollkids with it. Other than that they look just plain groovy.
Krushala posted 07-21-99 05:02 PM ET
yeah but most people who want to blow away a lot of people aren't patient enough to go through all of those rules. They will use a car instead or knife. That's why they want to kill a lot of people in the first place because of their impatience with them.
Trappist posted 07-22-99 01:15 PM ET
Thomas Hamilton did. 16 children died as a result. Ban them all.
Krushala posted 07-22-99 07:50 PM ET
Ban the children? Good idea.
Koshko posted 07-22-99 11:04 PM ET
Ban all the Thomas Hamiltons? Why would you want that?
Koshko posted 07-22-99 11:12 PM ET
Instant Death Penalty to all those convicted murderers.
A complete Banning of anything will only make things worse. One word: Prohabition.
Trappist posted 07-23-99 06:25 PM ET
Interesting word. I've never heard of it. Nor has my spellchecker.
Does it bear any resemblance to "Prohibition"? In which case I'd welcome your opinions on how the banning of firearms could possibly make the already horrendously high homicide rate in the US any higher.
Koshko posted 07-24-99 01:36 AM ET
OK One misspelled word.
Many of the guns used in homicide are acquired illegally. How does taking the guns away from the legal owners that are not killing people going to lower the homicide rate? If anything it opens the door for gang members etc to be more active. Less of a worry that someone might shoot back.
The law DerekM mentioned sounds pretty good (and is actually pretty close to existing rules out there in places), but Truthfully, I don't think you can do anything to lower the homicide rate much. Any effect will be minimal. There still will be loads of wackos shooting people. More rules won't help much, less rules won't help much.
Krushala posted 07-24-99 11:00 AM ET
Now now, can't we find a compromise in the middle. Like restricting the sale of all handguns. This will have an impact on the murder rate. Yes many criminals do get guns illegally. But many murders were committed with legally purchased handguns.
And how can you say our horrendously high muder rate can't get any higher. The number of murders has been down for many years. People are blowing the crime rate way out of proportion just because they see a murder everyday on the evening news.
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Author	Topic: Suggestion
DerekM	posted 07-21-99 07:58 AM ET How about a law that does the following: 1) Provide significant Federal subsidies for firearms safety training (say, a 2-day course). 2) Require this training prior to purchasing a weapon. Current owners would not have to take the training unless they purchased a new weapon. 3) Provide additional funding for background checks -- make the process more efficient so that the checks are actually done on time, all the time. 4) Require checks with any sale of a firearm -- make it illegal for anybody to sell to a person convicted of a felony or who has a history of mental illness. 5) Provide more funding and a punishment incentive to the ATF to enforce existing gun laws -- crack down on the few rogue dealers and such. 6) Impose manditory sentencing for firearms violations (possession of a machine gun without a license, use of a firearm in a crime, etc.). I honestly don't know how universal this already is -- this may already be the case in many states. 7) Require the use of a lock or cabinet in any household with children below the age of 16. Most of the prosecutions here would be in addition to other crimes, or after an accident involving a child. Something tells me that the NRA would scream at these "draconian restrictions on their right to bear arms."
Beta1	posted 07-21-99 08:53 AM ET Ben Elton once said there should be only one question when they check to see if your suitable to own a machinegun. "Do you want to own a machine gun" Answering yes immediately disqualifies you from owning one. Beta-1,
Trappist	posted 07-21-99 01:40 PM ET Of course, those proposed regulations would not prevent me, as an adult with no previous convictions, from buying a gun, learning to use it(subsidised!) and then blowing away a few dozen schollkids with it. Other than that they look just plain groovy.
Krushala	posted 07-21-99 05:02 PM ET yeah but most people who want to blow away a lot of people aren't patient enough to go through all of those rules. They will use a car instead or knife. That's why they want to kill a lot of people in the first place because of their impatience with them.
Trappist	posted 07-22-99 01:15 PM ET Thomas Hamilton did. 16 children died as a result. Ban them all.
Krushala	posted 07-22-99 07:50 PM ET Ban the children? Good idea.
Koshko	posted 07-22-99 11:04 PM ET Ban all the Thomas Hamiltons? Why would you want that?
Koshko	posted 07-22-99 11:12 PM ET Instant Death Penalty to all those convicted murderers. A complete Banning of anything will only make things worse. One word: Prohabition.
Trappist	posted 07-23-99 06:25 PM ET Interesting word. I've never heard of it. Nor has my spellchecker. Does it bear any resemblance to "Prohibition"? In which case I'd welcome your opinions on how the banning of firearms could possibly make the already horrendously high homicide rate in the US any higher.
Koshko	posted 07-24-99 01:36 AM ET OK One misspelled word. Many of the guns used in homicide are acquired illegally. How does taking the guns away from the legal owners that are not killing people going to lower the homicide rate? If anything it opens the door for gang members etc to be more active. Less of a worry that someone might shoot back. The law DerekM mentioned sounds pretty good (and is actually pretty close to existing rules out there in places), but Truthfully, I don't think you can do anything to lower the homicide rate much. Any effect will be minimal. There still will be loads of wackos shooting people. More rules won't help much, less rules won't help much.
Krushala	posted 07-24-99 11:00 AM ET Now now, can't we find a compromise in the middle. Like restricting the sale of all handguns. This will have an impact on the murder rate. Yes many criminals do get guns illegally. But many murders were committed with legally purchased handguns. And how can you say our horrendously high muder rate can't get any higher. The number of murders has been down for many years. People are blowing the crime rate way out of proportion just because they see a murder everyday on the evening news.