Friday, February 16, 2018

Soggy Footwell: Gun Owner...

I am a gun owner. I have a valid Georgia Concealed Carry Permit. I have submitted to a State and Federal background check. I have had my fingerprints taken and on file. I have taken a gun safety course sponsored by the Marietta GA Police Department.

Why should it be any different for anyone else in the United States?

When we have events like this week’s shooting in Parkland, FL I wonder why the standards that I had to go through are not required for every citizen of the U.S.? There is a flaw in the system and it needs to be fixed NOW!

The one apparent flaw that seems to be repeated every time one of these incidents occurs is that there is not enough communication between agencies/departments to identify problems with gun purchasers. In this case, communication between the school, mental health agencies, mental health providers and law enforcement could have identified an issue with this shooter and possibly prevented him from buying the gun he used to murder 17 innocent people.

There is a bill in Congress to standardize weapons carry permits as a single platform; every state would have to adhere to a common standard and offer reciprocity across state lines. This is the first step in making people comply with a uniform process to carry and buy guns. I’d like to see a universal inter-agency database as part of this bill if it doesn’t already exist; sharing data on points such as felony conviction, mental health or security issues that would prevent someone from purchasing guns.

The elimination of person-to-person sales without any paperwork needs to be addressed as well. Currently in GA if I want to sell a gun I own to another person I can do so without the buyer submitting to any background check or other qualifications. At a minimum the seller and buyer should be required to fill out the same form I have to complete whenever I buy a gun. The transaction could be done at any local PD or through Probate Court, same process as getting your carry permit.

I know, I know…there is nothing to keep people from side stepping this process. But the honest and responsible gun owner will do this, only the illegal transactions will be made just as they are now. If it eliminates some guns from falling into the wrong hands it is totally worth it. As a legal and responsible gun owner I go through this process and everyone else should too.

Finally, I realize that the guns are not the problem but the people behind them. However, the NRA needs to move its platform from protecting the Second Amendment to ending gun violence and promoting gun safety; something they used to do fervently and now seems to be a back-burner issue. Programs to promote responsible gun ownership, to promote universal compliance with state and federal laws and general gun safety will do more to protect our Second Amendment rights than what the NRA is doing now.

Step up NRA! Protect the Second Amendment by protecting the innocent and help to eliminate gun violence, lobby for laws for responsible gun ownership and promote gun safety. Do that and no one will have to worry about protecting the Bill of Rights.