Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am a fervent Second Amendment supporter and a gun owner. I believe that Americans should own guns, particularly AR-15 assault rifles, to protect themselves and their families from evil. I also believe that an armed society is a free society.
We have yet another tragic school shooting. Once again, the FBI and local law enforcement knew this 19 year old was a threat and failed to take action to stop his rampage. This is yet another reason my wife and I carry firearms. The government WILL NOT PROTECT YOU.
The recriminations are the same. Liberals want to ban guns, conservatives want to do nothing. This is not a difficult problem to solve, notwithstanding the histrionic babble from both sides.
Children Are More Important Than Money
First, as I've said for years, we protect our money better than we protect our children. There is no excuse, none, for a 19 year old without any military training to be able to enter a school building with an AR-15 and kill 17 people. None. It. Should. Never. Happen. Schools are soft targets and have always been soft targets. Banks are not. Banks are hard to rob and, unlike 50 years ago, you don't hear much about bank robberies anymore do you...
That's because banks protect something our government really cares about on a bi-partisan basis - money. They are hardened. They have vaults, guards, cameras, armed citizens, off duty police, bullet resistant countermeasures, and trained staff.
Another place you don't see mass shootings? Airports. Yes, there is the occasional attack by highly trained Jihadis, who are quickly dispatched by an army of military personnel and policemen. Airports are hardened because we see the threat.
There is no reason our schools should not be hard targets. We will likely see a $1.4 Trillion dollar infrastructure bill passed by the Congress in the next six months. Let's spend that money on our children. Our schools should be fortresses. There should be armed, but polite and well trained guards at every entry point and soft spot of a school. The staff should receive routine military-based training and be required to show that they are competent to work together to repel an assault. There should be walking patrols around the school grounds and the ingress and egress points of a school should be bulletproof, locked and incapable of breach by any weapon lighter than an RPG. There should be hardened safe rooms on every floor and children should be taught to move to them as they do in the event of a fire or a tornado. School room doors should be nearly impenetrable. If someone wants to attack a school, there should be very few targets for him to kill.
No one should be allowed into a school without prior clearance. Cameras should be monitored by professionals using modern technology to quickly identify threats and then coordinate with armed security to neutralize that threat. These are our children. They are more important than dollar bills.
Does this sound extreme to you? Does this sound like a waste of money? Does this sound "impossible"?
I want you to think about this. One or two teenagers with handguns and rifles can kill dozens of children in less than ten minutes. Imagine what ten well trained Jihadis with fully automatic assault rifles and grenades could do in a few hours. It is time to end this willful ignorance before hundreds, maybe a thousand of our children are slaughtered like sheep in a bloody terrorist attack. Every day we show how weakly we protect our most precious citizens, the more likely it is they will be violently attacked. Next time it may not be a crazed teenager.
Realistic Expanded Background Checks
Use the phrase "gun control" and you will accomplish nothing. You are part of the problem and not the solution. "Gun control" is a trigger for conservatives because historically "gun control" has always meant "gun confiscation." You will not solve this problem, politically or practically, by calling for "gun control."
However, there are many people who should not have guns. The mentally ill teen who posts menacing social media messages about being a professional school shooter, for example, probably should not have a gun. I am willing to make it harder for law abiding Americans to have access to the most destructive weapons, so long as liberals agree to give up this fantasy that the elimination of guns solves gun violence.
We should have a three tiered system for gun ownership. It should be federalized, national, and the states should no longer have any role in the process.
Tier one: Revolvers, bolt action and lever action rifles, single shot rifles, and pump action shotguns. If you want to own one of these, you pass the current federal background check process.
Tier two: semi-automatic handguns, rifles and shotguns. You pass an enhanced background check system that includes a review of your social media posts, your mental health records, and of course your criminal background. If there is an issue, you submit to a telephone or in person interview with someone in the BATFE, FBI or DHS. However, once you pass this background check, you get a license that lasts five years. The license allows you to purchase as many such weapons as you want, and you may carry those weapons nearly anywhere in the United States without a separate "concealed carry" permit.
Tier three: Fully automatic weapons. You should pass a rigorous background check that includes a personal interview, review of social media postings for a period of ten years and an in home visit by law enforcement. You must be able to pass a character and fitness exam similar to what you have to do to become a lawyer. You then get a five year license and can purchase some limited number of weapons.
Weapons should no longer be transferable outside of this process. However, these licenses are automatically renewable upon paper application and the burden is on the government to show cause why your license should not be renewed.
If you lie during any part of the background check process, you spend ten years in jail. If you are denied a license, or if your license is delayed by longer than 90 days, you may appeal to a federal court to require the government to show cause why you should be denied the license. If you win, you should be awarded no less than $50,000.00 and your attorney's fees for having to go through the trouble of vindicating your rights. Moreover, whether the license is denied or approved, the BATFE, FBI or DHS official making the decision must identify his or herself on the application and can be held personally liable for that decision.
Yes, there is potential for abuse, particularly among liberal bureaucrats who think no one should own guns. One can imagine the Obama Administration giving unconstitutional orders to deny all applications. To mitigate this risk, the law should have a ten year sunset clause. If there is abuse, the NRA, along with the enormous number of highly motivated gun owners can vote them out and dismantle the process. It should automatically expire, not automatically renew.
Guns are not going away. Evil is not going away. The natural, unalienable right to protect yourself and your family is not going away. My guns are not going away, and you are not going to take them from me. So, why don't we all stop living in fantasy land and get real about protecting ourselves and our children.
