The Second Amendment Doesn't Preclude Strict Licensing Requirements for Guns
by John Lawrence, March 24, 2020
The "right to keep and bear arms" should be conditioned on strict licensing requirements just as the right to drive an automobile is. Licensing and training in the proper use of firearms should come before an individual is allowed to own one. An individual who passes a training course in the use of a particular firearm would then be authorized to own and bear just that firearm. The type of firearms that can be owned should be severely restricted which would not infringe on the Second Amendment which doesn't say that an individual has a right to own and bear any or all types of firearms. The type of firearms available should be just those necessary for hunting or self defense. Even animals should have a right not to be slaughtered by an assault rifle. Military style assault weapons should be banned altogether, and a buy back program for guns of all types should be implemented at the Federal level. Not everyone is allowed to drive an automobile. By the same token not everyone should be allowed to own or possess a gun.
I'm also in favor of expedited justice for mass murderers caught in the act like the Boulder killer. Why should they be housed, fed and kept alive for years while the wheels of justice slowly grind away and countless lawyers and judges not to mention media pundits make money off of the tragedy. They should be promptly shot within a few days using the same means by which they took the lives of others. They should not be allowed to become notorious on social media. Nothing that has been learned from questioning these murderers about their motives has ever become relevant or information that can be used to prevent such crimes in the future, and any relevant information can be found out after their deaths. Why should FBI and police resources be wasted on finding out stuff that hasn't prevented mass murders from continuing? We already know what is obvious and that is that most of them are mentally ill or have a political agenda.
I wrote on this blog in January 2020:
It seems like the conclusion of every news report about another senseless killing. Why are the police even figuring? It won't do anything to prevent another senseless killing. If only we could figure out a motive, they think, it would prevent another gun nut with an arsenal from going berserk? Or a mentally ill person from gunning down innocents? Basically it comes down to one thing: we live in a sick society, a society which glamorizes guns and criminal activities. While we spend a trillion dollars a year fighting foreign terrorism, we spent nothing on fighting domestic terrorism. Domestic terrorists have been responsible for more American deaths than foreign terrorists in recent years.
At the root of the problem is the proliferation of guns, guns that are accessible to the average nutcase in his [and it's usually his, hmmm] quest to prove something to himself or society or to gain his 15 minutes of fame in an otherwise dull, uneventful and uninteresting life devoid of any constructive activity, a life that needs an act of violence in order to stand out from the crowd, a life fueled by a fantasy life filled with violence made to seem normal by movies, TV and video games.
While the FBI claims to have stepped up its efforts to combat domestic terrorism attacks in recent years and months, evidence suggests that these efforts are falling short. The FBI’s most recent hate crimes report indicates that while hate crimes dipped slightly in 2018, violent hate crimes reached a 16-year high. The US is not spending its money where it needs to to create a more sane and violence free society. Many of the perpetrators have come out of the military where violence is the norm. Spending less money on military activities and more to end poverty and combat mental illness might help to end the senseless violence that the US is in the grip of. Especially in schools and places of worship, where people are most vulnerable, the perpetrators, knowing this, step up their targeting opportunities.
But even more important is the elimination of guns from our society, especially high power, military style guns. They should be outlawed as well as large capacity ammunition magazines. There will still be nuts around attempting to hurt or kill other people, but if these guns were eliminated, they would just not be able to do as much damage. Reducing the size of our military and spending the money on more peaceful pursuits would also help to set a different tone in society than the militaristic one being set now.
