At this point, banning guns isn't an option. The two reasons being that people do not want guns to be banned, and recently it has become impossible for any government in the United States to ban them.
What can be done to end gun violence? A "rat out your neighbor" hotline to report people you think might be dangerous? Gun safety education? A general deflation of the high people get by holding a gun? What?
I grew up with firearms, I don't have the fear of them that many people have.
Citizens should be able to use firearms for lawful purposes, such as hunting, shooting sports, collecting, and lawful self defense. The vast majority of gun owners are responsible with there firearms.
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Heller vs DC 2008, affirmed that the 2nd Amendment confirmed an individual right to keep and bear firearms for lawful purposes. However, the second amendment can have reasonable restrictions placed on it, just like every other right in the constitution.
In 2010, The SCOTUS incorporated the 2nd Amendment To the states under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
Clearly, some people should not have firearms, the challenge has been to identify those individuals.
People who commit crimes, and are barred from firearm ownership, will not buy there firearms from a dealer that requires a background check. They get them from other criminals, or they are stolen.
Most shooting in this country are suicides.
What can be done, I don't know really, the issue is complex, and no course of action will make everyone happy.
The good O'l days, of having any gun you want, anywhere you want are over.
After the shooting in Parkland, I made the choice to get rid of my AR15, and M9, along with the rest of my semi automatic firearms.
I still possess 5 pump action shotguns, and a few others.
I could get behind a semi automatic weapons ban, except it will not end the problem, and would not end the attempts to further regulate firearms. Soon after a ban on semi automatic firearms, our hunting rifles would become sniper rifles, and our shotguns would become riot guns and "why do people need riot guns, and sniper rifles" would ECHO Through the halls of congress.
I have thought about buyback programs, however, to compensate gun owners justly would be to expensive since there are more guns on the street than the population of the country.
People can't seem to wrap there head around the fact that the criminal element, and others, will not but guns legally, nor will they store them legally, or, let the government but then back.
So, where do we stand, for me, to let only the military, police, and criminals have guns is worse than the situation we find ourselves in today.
I don't have the answer
