More in gun control

Given, as I argued in my last post, that it is probably not possible to get guns out of people’s hands in this country, what can we do that would help the situation? Well, the NRA bumper sticker “Guns don’t kill; people do” is accurate, so let’s stop focusing on banning certain types of weapons – after all one can get killed just as dead with a cheap handgun as with an “assault weapon”, whatever that is. Let's focus instead on people - on the gun owners and users.

It seems to me that automobiles offer a good model. Automobiles, handled carelessly, can cause a lot of damage and kill people.  So we require that autos be registered and inspected, and we also require that drivers be licensed and pass a test.  We also (in most states) require owners of automobiles to carry adequate liability insurance as a condition of car registration, and we hold owners of cars liable when they cause damage, injury or deaths – sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars.

So suppose we required that all guns be registered annually, for an annual fee that covered the cost of administering the program. Suppose also that on first registering any firearm the owner had to provide a sample bullet and casing, fired at the registration office (so they can’t bring in a fake one), so that there was a record of the ballistic fingerprint  that could be used to trace any bullet fired from that weapon back to the weapon and owner. Registration would also require proof of liability insurance taken out against that weapon. Owners would be expected to protect their weapons at all times - a weapon stolen because it was inadequately protected (locked in an approved  gun safe, for example)  while not in use would make the owner liable for any damages that weapon does.

Suppose similarly that we licensed all gun owners and/or users, for an annual fee that covered the cost of administering the program. Licensing would require taking and passing a course in gun safety, and a periodic refresher course.  Those who cannot pass a background check for criminal records and/or mental problems cannot be licensed.

Now, possession of an unregistered firearm would be a serious felony, and besides criminal charges they would be barred from ever owning or being licensed to use a firearm (since they would have been convicted of a felony).  Possession of any firearm, registered or not, when not licensed would similarly be a serious felony, and besides criminal charges they would be barred from ever owning or being licensed to use a firearm.

Criminals, of course, will ignore this, but the law already makes criminal sentences stiffer if a firearm is involved.

For law-abiding gun owners this allows them to own and shoot as many guns of as many varieties as they like, provided all their guns are registered, but does require them to be licensed, trained, and fiscally responsible for any damage the weapons might do, whether in their possession or not. People who want to own high-capacity automatic weapons might find that their insurance costs are higher, but then their liability is higher as well.  Insurance companies will have a strong incentive to assure that the people they insure are well trained and careful about protecting their firearms.

This wouldn't be an easy law to write. Are air guns and BB guns included? What about home-made guns (since there are plans on the web for using a 3-D printers to make a gun)? What about guns stolen while being transported (say, from one's airline luggage)? It will take some work to make a consistent law, but it would be worth it.

It’s not a perfect system, but it seems to me it would be a workable one, and perhaps (barely) palatable to the American gun-owning public.  It is, after all, not much different than what we already do with automobiles.