THOUGHTS & PRAYERS

After America’s frequent mass shootings and other tragedies of gun violence, many people respond by sending out their “thoughts and prayers.” And I thought I’d do so too, because this is what I’m thinking and praying:

I.

I think this American tragedy of repeated mass shootings and gun violence has gone on for far too long.

I think 31,000 Americans killed by gun violence each year is 31,000 victims too many.

I think this nationwide plague of gun violence is a critical public health crisis, and I think it should be studied as such with a goal of learning how best to reduce it.

I think mass shootings — like those here in Colorado Springs, also in Littleton, Aurora, Fort Hood, San Bernardino, Newtown, Blacksburg, Charleston, Orlando, Las Vegas, and everywhere else in America — are largely preventable, and I think we definitely should be doing everything in our power to prevent them.

I think historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., was right when he wrote about American gun violence, “After each atrocity, we restore our national complacency with astonishing promptitude. Yet a problem remains which complacency cannot wave away.”[1]

I think the time to have a conversation in America about what we should be doing to prevent or reduce mass shootings and gun violence is right now. I think it should have happened already. I think it should have happened a long time ago, and I think it’s shameful we haven’t had it yet.

I think our stubborn refusal as a nation to do anything significant to either prevent or even reduce the tragic frequency of mass shootings and gun violence in America is an unconscionable failure.

I think no one’s 2nd Amendment right to bear arms is more important than everyone else’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I think we need to propose, support, and pass common sense gun safety reform, immediately.

II.

Like most Americans, I think comprehensive criminal background checks should be performed before anyone buys a gun in America.

I think public gun shows and private sellers too, in person and online, need to perform background checks before selling any guns, or —

I think every gun sale should be facilitated through Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), for public safety and record keeping purposes.

I think Colorado has become a model State by adopting these requirements and also creating a State-run background check system with access to State court and Department of Motor Vehicles records (which the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System [NICS] database doesn’t have).

I think every State in America should follow this model which Colorado and only 12 other States use, and either adopt a similar State-run background check system with access to State court and DMV records or else provide access to State court records to the FBI’s NICS database.

I think the Supreme Court’s “anti-commandeering” decision in Printz v. United States, 52 U.S. 898 (1997) — which “does not allow the national government to require any State officials [other than judges] to enforce federal rules of law”[2] — ought to be reversed in part so the national government can require State agents and agencies provide relevant criminal and mental health information to the FBI’s NICS database.

I think right now, because of this Printz decision, 36 States don’t provide relevant criminal and mental health information to the FBI’s NICS database; but I also think that’s an easily solvable problem.

I think, ideally, we should adopt one national background system, run by the FBI, with access to all the States’ court and DMV records, so all relevant information is reported or found in a unified system.

I think with this improved system we could finally close the deadly “Blacksburg” or “Hinckley loophole” — which lets prohibited people get guns because the FBI’s NICS database doesn’t have all the relevant information it needs to deny a sale.

I think we also need to close the “Charleston loophole” — which lets prohibited people get guns if a background check is not completed within 3 days. I think we need to require every background check must be completed and cleared before any gun can be sold to anyone.

I think we need to expand 18 USC 922 (g), the national criterion of what disqualifies someone from buying or owning a gun, to include: persons determined by a judge to be a gang member, persons convicted of drug-trafficking, persons with temporary restraining orders filed against them for violence or threats of violence, persons convicted of misdemeanor stalking, and persons placed on the Terror Watch lists.

I think keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous people should always be our highest and most urgent priority.

I think some people will say, “Criminals don’t buy guns from gun shops, they steal them, or they buy them from other criminals on the streets so they won’t have to submit to a background check, and thus the background check system only burdens law-abiding, responsible gun buyers.” I think they’ll point to some studies which show “five out of six incarcerated felons who were armed during the commission of their crimes acquired their weapons from sources other than legitimate gun dealers.”[3]

I think so many criminals get guns illegally because we have successfully made it hard for them to get guns any other way, and that’s why we should strengthen and improve the gun sales system with more background checks and better information, so fewer criminals get fewer guns, keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.

I also think the improved background system we now have in Colorado has stopped more than 5,100 gun sales so far this year — and has stopped more than 35,000 gun sales since the system was started in 2013 — all to people who are prohibited from buying or owning guns.

I think that, since 2013, our improved background check system has even led directly to the arrest of more than 1,000 wanted fugitives, who were all captured while trying to buy guns.

I think nationally the FBI’s NICS database, which doesn’t have access to State court or DMV records, still stopped more than 120,000 gun sales in 2016 — and has stopped more than 1.4 million gun sales since the system was started in 1998 — all to people who are prohibited from buying or owning guns.

I think this success shows us two things: 1, the system works (but could always work better); and 2, many criminals do try to buy guns from FFLs, gun shops, and gun shows, which is why we need to run these background checks, to stop them.

III.

In the spirit of the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994, I think we need to limit the kinds of weapons, accessories, and ammunition made and available to the public.

I think we need to reinstate and update the assault weapons ban.

I think high power assault rifles — like the AR-15, AK-47, and others like them — have no legitimate reason being in the hands of civilians.

I think gun manufacturers avoided the last assault weapons ban by making small, merely cosmetic changes to their prohibited weapons, making them “legal” again, which side-stepped the whole spirit and intent of the law, which was to significantly reduce the number of high-powered deadly weapons in America.

I think side-stepping the assault weapons ban is bad, and that’s why we need to make it significantly harder for gun manufacturers to be able to avoid the ban in the future.

I think we need to also ban any gun accessories which can be added to increase the lethality of any gun, accessories like bump stocks, silencers, and extra ammunition.

I think we need to restrict the amount of ammunition any gun can carry, by prohibiting ammo drums, feed belts, and high capacity clips and magazines.

I think we need to limit the amount of ammunition anyone can buy at one time, or keep in any one place.

I think Congress should provide financial incentives to States to mandate the production of childproof or personalized guns.

I think concealed-carry should be prohibited nationwide — as the Constitution of the State of Colorado prohibits it, in Article II, Section 13: “nothing herein contained shall be construed to justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons.”

I think some people will say, “We need guns to protect ourselves, and our families, and our property from violent criminals who would harm us.” I think that’s a valid concern. I think people should be allowed to keep some guns at home for personal defense, provided those guns are kept safely.

I think some people will say, “Whatever weapons I choose to use to defend myself, and my family, and my property is no one’s business but my own.” I think that’s where we differ, because I think handguns, shotguns, and some kinds of rifles (but not all) are plenty enough for home defense.

I think no one needs high-powered assault rifles for home defense.

I think Ronald Reagan was right when he said this same thing: “I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth, or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of the home.”[4]

IV.

To promote public safety and personal responsibility, I think certified gun safety training should be required before any first-time buyer can acquire a gun.

I think gun owners should be required to report the theft or loss of their gun within 72 hours of becoming aware of its loss.

I think we also need to limit the total number of guns any one person or household can have, to no more than 5 guns per person and/or 10 guns per household.

I think an improved background check system, such as Colorado has, could help us identify people who are buying too many guns.

I think another way to help identify people buying too many guns would be to repeal 18 USC 926 (a)(3) and create a national gun registry — to record who owns which guns.

I think a national gun registry would help law enforcement agencies solve a lot of gun related crimes.

I think Attorney General Homer Cummings was right when he said, “Show me the man who doesn’t want his gun registered, and I’ll show you a man who shouldn’t have a gun.”[5]

I think some people will say, “A national gun registry will only be used and abused by the federal government to harass lawful, responsible gun owners, or worse, be used to confiscate guns away from the people, disarming the populace.”

I think registering a gun would be similar to registering a vehicle — helping buyers and sellers to find each other, and helping law enforcement officers identify when items are stolen or used improperly.

I think we also need to repeal and prohibit all “stand-your-ground,” “castle-doctrine,” and “shoot-first” laws which make it “legally justifiable to shoot in self-defense even outside your home.”[6]

I think such laws make it easier for criminals to commit murder then claim it was done in self-defense and thus escape punishment. I think that’s bad.

I think we need to repeal as well the Tiahrt amendments, which unhelpfully restrict the Department of Justice from collecting and reporting information about gun violence in America.

I think we should finally allow scientists and researchers at the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Justice to study the causes of and possible solutions to mass shootings and gun violence.

I think the Surgeon General of the United States should produce a regular report on the problem of gun violence in America and our progress towards solutions.

I think studying this problem of mass shootings and gun violence in America will help us finally reduce it.

I think no single solution will solve all gun violence problems — which is why I also think we should try as many solutions as possible, to solve as many problems as possible.

V.

Being a realist, I think we’ll never be able to stop all mass shootings and gun violence, but that doesn’t mean we should ever stop trying to do so, and I think we definitely should be doing everything, everything, everything we possibly can do to prevent mass shootings and gun violence.

I think some people will say, “Gun control laws don’t work, because criminals won’t obey them, and also because evidence shows actual gun violence is highest in those cities and States where gun laws are strictest.” I think they’ll point to cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., and to States like California, as examples of those areas with strict gun laws and higher than average levels of gun violence.

I think the law enforcement agencies of those areas would be the first to point out how the overwhelming majority of gun violence crimes committed in those areas are committed with guns obtained from outside of those areas and then brought into those areas, through gun trafficking.

I think the gun trafficking problem in those areas happens and is so high because we have successfully made it difficult for criminals to get guns in those areas, so they’re forced to get a gun from somewhere else where it’s easier to do so and then bring it back, or buy one illegally in those areas from gun traffickers.

I think the real problem then is not the strict gun laws in those areas, but rather the lax gun laws in other areas and subsequent related gun trafficking. I think this illustrates exactly why we need consistent national gun safety laws, so the weaknesses of one area cannot be exploited by criminals to endanger everyone else, everywhere else.

I think some people will say, “People who want to commit acts of mass murder will always find ways to do so.” I think they’ll point to examples of bombers, arsonists, and terrorists, who all committed acts of mass murder and violence without guns.

I think that’s probably right, to a degree, and I think that’s exactly why we should make it as difficult as possible for these dangerous people to get their hands on deadly weapons and unlimited ammunition. I think we should not be giving people even one more way to inflict mass damage on each other.

I think some people will say, “The only sure-fire way to prevent mass shootings is to have someone else there shooting the shooter!” I think they’ll point to examples like what happened at New Life Church here in Colorado Springs in 2007; or what happened at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, in 2017.

I think these brave citizens are heroes, deserving praise, absolutely. I think police officers and security guards, though, should be the ones firing back at active shooters, because they are trained to do so. I think even highly trained police officers sometimes shoot and injure innocent bystanders in crossfire, and I think untrained civilian shooters are likely cause even more friendly fire, which should be avoided at all costs.

I think some people will say, “The only sure-fire way to prevent mass shootings at bars, like what happened in Orlando, or at concerts, like what happened in Las Vegas and Paris, is to let people take their guns with them into public places.”

I think letting guns into places (like bars and concerts, etc.) where people are already getting drunk and violent is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. I think regular people will end up shooting each other far, far more often than they already do, which is too much.

I think some people will say, “The only sure-fire way to stop mass shooters at schools, like what happened at Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook, is to let teachers carry guns in schools.” I think they’ll point to examples like the avoided mass shooting at Araphaoe High School in Arapahoe, Colorado, in 2013.

I think arming teachers with guns is another very bad idea. I think keeping armed police officers and/or armed and trained School Resource Officers (SROs) on school campuses at all time while students are present is a fine idea, but not a permanent solution. I think the examples of Columbine High School and Fort Hood show having armed guards around doesn’t always stop mass shootings.

I think the basic idea here, though — that “The only thing which stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” — is incomplete, because we can preemptively stop a bad guy from ever getting a gun with good gun laws and constant enforcement. I also think, as professor Adam Winkler does, “Th[is] more guns, less crime philosophy has not worked to protect Americans very well so far.”[7]

I think some people will say, “More guns in the hands of more people in more places will help keep people more safe, by both dissuading shooters from shooting and also helping people shoot back if shooting does begin.”

I think this idea of “moar gunz!” is fundamentally flawed, because there are already an estimated 357 million guns in America yet only 317 million Americans in America[8] — showing there are roughly 40 million more guns in America than Americans in America — and yet we are still plagued by frequent mass shootings and other bursts of gun violence.

I think we are already one of the most heavily-armed nations on Earth, and yet not one of the safest.

I think “moar gunz!” leads inescapably to more shooting, which is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.

I think some people will say, “We need our guns, as the original American patriots needed them, to defend ourselves from a tyrannical government, even if that government is our own.” I think they’ll argue, as Ron Paul does, “Tyrants from Hitler to Mao to Stalin have sought to disarm their own citizens, for the simple reason that unarmed people are easier to control.”[9]

I think comparing our American government to Hitler’s Nazi Germany is both inaccurate and inappropriate, and grossly so. I think Godwin’s Law applies here.

I think some people will say, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” I think they’ll blame mass shootings and other gun violence tragedies on mental health issues and instabilities in the shooter.

I think, firstly, people use guns to kill people, which is kind of the problem here.

I also think, secondly, that’s exactly why we need comprehensive background checks performed before each and every gun sale, performed by a system which includes relevant information about mental health issues, instabilities, and disabilities, to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.

I think, thirdly, that’s also why we need increased funding and spending for health care mental health services in America, so people can be treated with the help and care they need without devolving to violence.

I think, finally, blaming all mass shootings and gun violence in American on the mental health issues and instabilities of the shooter alone ignores the many other larger forces which lead into destructive behavior: radical ideology, hateful intolerance, toxic masculinity, sexism, racism, revenge, et al. — none of which are mental disorders.

I think these pro-gun talking points are all weak arguments — which all call for fighting violence with violence instead of preventing violence with peace.

VI.

The solutions I’ve been thinking about and have proposed here are all practical and achievable, but even so I think other people will say my thinking here doesn’t go far enough.

I think they’ll say, “If we really want to get serious about stopping mass shootings and reducing gun violence in America, then we’ve got to get serious about outlawing all guns.” I think they’ll point to England and Australia as examples America should emulate.

I think that’s going far too far. I think outlawing all guns is undesirable because it does leave people defenseless against other forms of violence, and that’s bad. I think handguns for self-defense and some rifles for hunting and sport are just fine, so long as the owners have taken gun safety classes and store the guns safely when not in use.

I think some people will say, “If we don’t outlaw all guns, then we’ve got to at least reverse the disastrous Supreme Court decisions of D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), and McDonald v. Chicago, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which wrongfully created an individual’s right to bear arms.” I think they’ll point to a history of Court decisions overturning each other as examples it can be done.

I think reversing those Supreme Court decisions will do little practical good because most State Constitutions already protect an individual’s right to bear arms — just as our Colorado Constitution does, in Article II, Section 13: “The right of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall be called in question.”

I think some people will say, “We also need to consider repealing and replacing the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution with a better amendment.” I think they’ll point to how the 21st Amendment repeals the 18th Amendment as precedent showing it can be done.

I think amending the 2nd Amendment is possible, maybe even desirable, and if we do so then I think we should adopt the amendment proposed by Justice John Paul Stevens, adding five words to the 2nd Amendment to make it unambiguously conform to the original intent of its draftsmen, so it would read: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms while serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.”[10]

VII.

In the final analysis, I think gun safety is a constant balancing act, between gun rights and gun control, in which neither extreme will ever (or should ever) win.

I think we’ve got to find a better way of keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.

I think we’ve got to do better at preventing or at least reducing mass shootings and gun violence in America.

I think we’ve got to do something — because doing nothing is killing us.

VIII.

And I pray.

I pray for America.

I pray for peace.

I pray for peace in the hearts, minds, and souls of all Americans — especially those people affected by mass shootings and gun violence.

I pray for wisdom.

I pray for the wisdom to know what the right thing is to do to prevent or reduce mass shootings and gun violence in America.

I also pray for the wisdom to be able to learn from our past mistakes, so we won’t ever repeat them again in the future.

I pray for courage.

I pray for the courage to finally do what we know is right.

I pray for strength.

I pray for the strength to overcome the intense opposition which inevitably rises up when we start working to pass simple, common sense gun safety reform measures.

I pray for forgiveness.

I pray God forgives us for our continuing sin of inaction.

#

Those are my thoughts and prayers.

END NOTES

[1] Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Crisis of Confidence: Ideas, Power, and Violence in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1969. Pg. 4.

[2] Stevens, John Paul. Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. New York: Little, Brown and Co.: 2014. Pg. 15.

[3] Barbour, Haley. Agenda for America: A Republican Direction for the Future. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1996. Pg. 126.

[4] Reagan, Ronald. Speech at the University of Southern California. 6 February 1989.

[5] Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Crisis of Confidence: Ideas, Power, and Violence in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1969. Pg. 23.

[6] Whitney, Craig R. Living With Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment. New York: PublicAffairs, 2012. Pg. 24.

[7] Winkler, Adam. Gun Fight: the Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America. 2013. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2011. Pg. xii.

[8] Ingraham, Christopher. “There are now more guns than people in the United States.” The Washington Post. 5 October 2015.

[9] Paul, Ron. Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2011. Pg. 146.

[10] Stevens, John Paul. Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. New York: Little, Brown and Co.: 2014. Pg. 132.