http://news.yahoo.com/gun-owner-case-gun-control-094500740--politics.html
Why do we only talk about gun control after the most unbearable national tragedies? Why don’t we adopt the common sense gun control regulations that have broad public support and might actually prevent the next tragedy?
Before half the country decides that I am a crazy liberal and stops reading here, let me note that I am a security professional, and a 12 year veteran of the Navy where I served as a weapons system technician, base police officer, and firearms instructor. I am proud gun owner. I’m also a single father. I do not want to ban guns but I do want to protect my son from the dangers they pose
Our nation has settled into a very predictable routine of public discourse regarding firearms. A deranged individual—a neo-Nazi, a disillusioned ex-employee, or even a disturbed child—commits an act of public violence. The 24-hour news cycle obsesses on every morbid detail, speculating on motives and puzzling over “who’s to blame?” The righteous left preaches “never again” by way of tighter restrictions and more regulation, and the fringe right accuses them of politicizing a tragedy and warns that the government is coming for our firearms.
Depressing as this picture is, however, the gun control conversation should be happening even more frequently. Deaths due to poor knowledge of firearms happen on the small scale every day; just this past weekend, 11 year-old Hunter Pederson was accidentally killed by his uncle, who was showing off a laser sight by pointing it at the boy’s forehead.
The fact is that thousands of deaths all across our country can be prevented with solid intelligence sharing and common sense regulation. Between 83%—91% of the country supports background checks for all gun purchases and yet, somehow, this simple provision is consistently written out of proposed legislation. It is time that we make this a permanent policy priority rather than a set of talking points to be rolled out alongside the names of our next shooting victims.
I love my guns, and I’m no hypocrite. But I love my son more. I love taking him to school, a movie, or simply around the block without fearing for his life. It is dangerous and short sighted to require so little of our fellow gun owners, because—as 11 year-old Hunter’s case tragically shows—they hold the very lives of those around them in their hands.
So what can we do? The best proposals are all about common sense and moderation—too often four letter words in politics. Background checks and mental health evaluations for all gun owners, on a five year verification cycle, would be a great first step.
this IMO is a responsible gun owner anything less is a selfish direspect for human life if they keep their eyes shut to reality how are they suppose to hunt without causing collateral damage like that 11 year old and thousands of others even younger through the years and going forward if no regulations are implemented. that is squarely on the steps of gun owners NRA and congress in that order. the less noise the higher the body count and the higher sales on small coffins. recognize
