The drink*sigh*
Okay. Fine, I'll 'play' again.
1. Background checks - if for ANY reason you should not have a gun, that's an instant "you don't get a gun". That includes Domestic abuse, threats of violence, threats of killing people, etc. If you've committed any crime with a gun before, at ANY age, you don't get a gun at LEAST until you're checked out and can prove you won't repeat that issue. If you have a history of mental illness, you don't get a gun because there is no guarantee that you will stay on your meds/are on your meds. Which leads to:
2. Mental illness - IF you have any kind of anti-social behaviour, have tried suicide in the past, have any kind of extreme illness like schitzophrenia or Bi-polarism, you don't get a gun because it's usually someone in those categories that tends to be violent.
3. Red Flag laws - Someone shows up as a 'red flag' in ANY state, they don't get to purchase a gun. If any of the above pops up on a computer in South Dakota about Joe Flow from Florida, they don't get to sell a gun to Joe.
4. Age - you can't legally get alcohol until you're 21, you can't rent a car until you're 25, and depending on the state getting your driver's licence as a teen requires more hoops than getting a gun does. So no more kids allowed to buy guns without a PROVEN parent/guardian being with them. (This new guy? According to his grandfather from what I read he was a FELON already, should NEVER have been able to touch a gun, but someone ELSE took him to get said guns, so...). IMO at LEAST 21 to actually be able to purchase your own gun. This also ties into:
5. How to get a gun - you have to jump through hoops galore to get a gun, in ANY manner. Online, in a store, at some sort of 'sale event'/convention or whatever, the most someone there at those events can do is take your name and 'stats' to check on you before you get anything in your hands. But you have to PROVE you are not a threat to society at large.
6. Licence - that is renewed just like anything else.
I could go on but this is enough for now, most likely?
I disagree with #3 and 4. While they might be OK in a city they are much too restrictive in rural areas. Many people that work alone in the bush carry a hand cannon for protection, since a rife is just too awkward. And where does one find a range in rural areas? We use old gravel pits mostly. The only handgun facility I am aware of is 3 towns down the highway, and I am not aware of any rifle ranges closer. WE do have a shotgun range not far away.Well, if you're gonna play, I can hardly stand on the sidelines, can I?
1. No further importation of foreign-made firearms. If their people can't have them, why should they make money from our blood?
2. No further sale or transfer of any firearm capable of accepting a detachable box magazine. If you can't get the job done with a lever-action, a bolt-action, a pump-action shotgun, a semi-auto with a fixed magazine holding no more than 10 rounds, or a revolver, you're too bad a shot to own a gun anyhow.
3. Ownership and carriage of handguns at the discretion of the government, and available only to people with the equivalent background check to that of a Top Secret security clearance, or to members of the militia, defined as police officers, firearms-licensed security guards, or members of the state National Guard. Those persons pay for the privilege by being available for call-up as needed in cases of riot, civil insurrection, or natural or man-made disaster.
4. Ammunition kept in the home limited to 20 rounds. If you want to pop off 100 rounds, you buy it at the range and use it there. If you do the kind of hunting that requires 20+ rounds, you show a license and get special permission, limited in time. All ammo sales tracked via internet.
5. All illegal weapons seized by law enforcement at any level are to be destroyed, not auctioned off nor kept as keepsakes by the cops.
6. Mandatory training for all persons who wish to own a firearm. Two weeks, in residence, at the expense of the applicant.
7. Persons convicted of felonies of any kind or misdemeanors in which violence is involved lose all right to own a gun for life. (Exception for simple assault in a hand-to-hand fight, provided no weapons of any kind were used. Shows the right mindset.)
8. Seizure of weapons in any case of a mental-health hold or a civil case or application of a protective order where violence or a reasonable threat of violence is involved. Return of weapons at the discretion of the judge supervising the case.
And that's the lot. Keeps pissed-off teenagers from buying high-capacity weapons, reload times on the weapons permitted gives potential victims time to fight or flee, and sharply reduces handguns, which are used in 95% of firearms homicides in the U.S. Expensive? You bet. That's the point.