Controlling Gun Violence

I grew up in South Africa where access to guns was very limited, but where most young men were drafted out of high school into the military — and trained to be gun-carrying soldiers. So at the age of seventeen I was carrying my first gun, a variation of the AR-15-style combat rifle called the R4. We were carefully trained in gun safety, and developed a healthy respect for firearms.

I have since lived most of my adult life in the USA without owning a gun. I don’t like the gun culture in the USA, and didn’t want a gun in my home. Then after we moved to a small farm between Detroit and Chicago (murder capitals of the USA), I was working long hours at the office away from home, and decided to protect my wife and four daughters — and bought our family’s first personal firearm. So I write this article as a gun owner and concerned citizen.

So, what can we do to reduce gun violence? As a gun owner I wanted to put forward several proposals that I think can reduce gun violence in the USA. I think that three things will have an immediate effect .

1- Control Guns like we Control Cars

First, background checks are not going to stop all mass shooters and gun murder. And because the real gun problem facing our country is the 33,000 gun deaths per year. All gun owners should be required to take a license exam, just like a car license, but more intense, that has phycological screens built into the test. Also, the owner should pass gun safety and gun usage exams. This will allow all law abiding citizens to qualify to keep their gun if they desire, BUT for all the rest of us to know that an individual has qualified to own that weapon of [mass] destruction. This license needs to be renewed annually just like a car, and a fee paid. Likewise, all ammunition sales must be controlled and monitored — no sale without a license to buy ammo. If you are carrying a gun without a license, you get your firearm confiscated. Also, gun owners should be required to have a gun lock. This will naturally eliminate 99.9% of criminal-minded people who are not fit to own a weapon, and accidental gun deaths by minors. This can happen now if Congress would just act, without some crazy scheme to try and define which kinds of guns are a safety hazard, or to force law-abiding citizens to turn in their guns.

2- Protect our School Children like we Protect our Military

Secondly, let’s put at least one retired law enforcement or military veteran at each school, and install metal detectors at all entrances. I’d rather take the Trump border wall money and invest it to protect our school kids. There are millions of un- and under-employed Seniors who would like to make a few extra dollars keeping our kids safe. If we can protect our airports from terrorists, we can protect our schools. This can also prevent pedophiles and under harmful people from getting into our schools.

3- Control the Distribution of Violent Media like we Control Tobacco

Thirdly, we need to control the exposure of our youth to violent video games and movies. We control tobacco and alcohol sales and consumption, and violent mind-altering media should be no different. Much of the violent “shooter” culture in the USA has its roots in violent entertainment media. Just like we control and heavily discourage the sale of tobacco, we must place an extra tax on violent R-rated movies and video games to discourage their viewing. But more importantly we must first tax the PRODUCERS of that media so they have to pay a lot extra to publish violent content. Let’s tax Hollywood for the decades of violence they have unleashed on our culture.

4- Empower Law Enforcement

The vast majority of mass shooters in the USA were previously on the radar of law enforcement. However, our law enforcement personnel are not empowered to act swiftly to elevate and then lock down a potential threat. Let’s give them more power to escalate threats and have suspected hostiles monitored.

We control cars, tobacco, alcohol and other potentially harmful products just fine. Now let’s control guns with the same common-sense solutions that have worked for everything else we have proven we can control.