Harley: Don’t you dare touch my guns Seraphin!!
Seraphin: Did you purchase them legally?
Harley: well, yea...
Seraphin: Are you properly trained in the responsible use and maintenance of your weaponry?
Harley: yes...
Seraphin: Do you properly store youre weaponry in a safe and/or storage area where those who shouldn’t have access to it can’t reasonably gain access to it?
Harley: yes...
Seraphin: Then congratulations. Noone cares about your guns or that you have them. Your argument is infantile and knee jerk.
Harley: Can I go now?
Seraphin: you can, but if you do you’ll miss the actual message pst the humor...
Harley: Im a prankster and chaos loving clown Seraphin...
Seraphin: we might piss off Both sides...
Harley: oh! Ok continue!
Seraphin: Thanks...
Ok so here’s the thing. Everytime a shooting happens both sides lose their damn minds. And that is a big part of the problem. People are polarized to A Side. Well my side supports blank or my side supports this instead. Just shut the fuck up. Your Sides is a big part of the problem in this country, but thats another topic for another time.
But heres the gun issue. And ill warn you NRA fans now, read fully or dont bother. And you full on gun hippies who want to “ban all guns”, you aint gona like this much either. But for my larger audience. Those who understand life is not nor has it ever been black and white. It has always been a beautiful and vast specteum of color and nuance.
Now to the issue. Lets start with an easy one to agree on shall we. Schools getting shot up by Anyone is bad! Still with me? Good cuz otherwise youre hopeless and We can’t help you. Now this is where this portion of the issue gets speculative.
How do we fix it?
First off we have to all actually agree this is a problem and work together to fix it. So lets start with this. Children can not legally own a handgun by federal law, and federal lw prohibits the sale of firearms to minors, however in 30 states there is no law about a minor Owning a Long gun, ie a rifle or shotgun, and according to my research thus far, this includes and this surprised me actually, an Uzi depending on its make and modifications.
Now I’m largely against telling people how to live thier life up unto the point living your life infringes on the life of another or even worse, hurts them in anyway. So I wont say we should change these laws. If Johnny wants Junior to have his own rifle and learn to be properly trained and properly maintain his own gun, thats their business UNTIL IT HURTS SOMEONE ELSE. Then its a problem.
So how do we help this issue? Well for one let’s look at something else that people love to reference during this conversation. Automobiles. People are killed every year by automobiles. And youre right noone is calling to ban them. And Im not calling to ban guns, but i am calling for responsibility. What happens to earn your right to drive, you have to pass a competency test showing you know how, you have to be Licensed and you have to have insurance. Now why do we do these things. 1. Well this ones obvious, we dont want people who don’t know what the hell they are doing operating these one ton death machines. 2. We need to be able to identify you have proven your competency to operate a vehicle and 3. And this is the one well circle back to later, If under Any circumstances you damage someones property or even worse, hurt or kill someone, you are held liable for the damages.
Si2: Seraphin, are you trying to say people are not liable if they shoot someone?
Seraphin: not entirely Si but I see your point, let me explain further.
Yes of course people are liable. Legally those at fault can be tried for manslaughter and murder among other things, but perhaps we can approach it further in a different way. So back to the car example. If Junior, borrows Daddy’s car, legally or illegally, with or without permission, what happens if Junior wrecks and injures someone. Prize for those who said Daddy’s insurance or Daddy has to pay for it. And practically speaking if you wanna see change in the use of something, add in insurance. Regulation will happen Very quickly.
Now again. I don’t care how you live your life. But damn well believe you are responsible for your choices and actions, or inaction in some cases. My proposal is simple. 1. You can own a gun, that's fine, it is you're Constitutionally given right. But to do so you must take a class and pass a test showing you know how to properly use and maintain the weapon as well as are properly educated on the laws regarding the weapon. 2. You must pass an in depth background check showing you are not only a law abiding citizen but also that you do not have a history of violence. 3. You will be required to properly store you're weapon and provide proof of said proper storage. 4. Each gun owner will be required to carry firearm liability insurance with a state minimum level of coverage.
Will this plan work? I don't know, Since it was my idea, I am of the biased opinion that it is at least an attempt in the right direction. Our current attempts haven’t worked out overly well to prevent further attacks and this disingenuous bickering that ultimately devolves into name calling and fruitless arguments is getting us no where.
Harley: Think you managed to piss of everyone?
Seraphin: Well Harley, as long as they consider more options and find it in themselves to grow and become more than this bullshit us and them, then I don’t care if they agree with the specifics as long as they are opening dialogue and discussing ideas rather than blindly bashing one another.
In case we have not however on another note and just a quick aside for everyone on the topic of Generation, a topic we may address further later. Millennials are not teenagers. The youngest millennials are now 21 by many references but at the very youngest they are 18. We outnumber Baby Boomers and we are doing little with that. Largely we are nostalgic and do our level best to be largely distracted. as a whole we are just trying to survive in the world we found ourselves in. Numbers mean nothing if there is no action. Where we Are seeing action right now however is from this rising generation the oldest whom are 18-20 the youngest are still being born but these teenagers, Gen Z (How original), so just an FYI the generation of 'tide pod eaters' (which isn't a real thing except among the stupidest of people. its a meme, a joke actually) those speaking out and walking out in protest is Gen Z, or whatever name they ultimately end up saddled with. Either way, I wish them well but caution that they not just follow trends but seek to understand the issues and focus their passion and fire into making things better. Perhaps we will more fully address the idea of generations and such another time. We shall see.
Much love to you my friends. Until next time.
5 comments:
Issue 1 gun safety should be taught in school and that in and of itself should help dispel the myths of what a legally owned fire arm can and cannot do and help many of the accidental childhood deaths. the classes would be to familiarize all with the proper cautions and operation of a firearm and in no way to encourage ownership
Issue-2 These laws are already on the books,the problem is with agencies not reporting to the database. they jealously guard their own niche to the detriment of all. reporting laws need to be enforced.
issue-3 You could not enforce this without gun registration and that has repeatedly been shown as an impossibility. What you could do is assign responsibility to use by anyone of an improperly stored firearm.
issue-4 once again you cannot regulate without registration. This issue I believe is not solvable as I doubt an insurer would cover a vague fire arm clause. your only option is to hold the owner responsible for any use of their firearm that they could have reasonably prevented.
Andy
Very good post, Seraphin, and I appreciate your perspective!
My view takes a completely different track. That there has been a surge in gun related violence in recent years is indisputable. That the trend is increasing is also indisputable. The actual question we need to ask if we wish to solve the problem, however, is "what changed?" It's not access to guns as that has always been there. It's not the style of guns, either. That's not a recent change. So what is it?
I submit that there has been a fundamental change in our society's attitudes towards discipline. Consider:
* Corporal punishment in the home is no longer the prevalent parenting style.
* Corporal punishment in the schools is no longer permitted, even in states (like RI) where it is legal.
* The rapid transition to both parents working (starting in the late 1970s) has resulted in the outsourcing of parenting to Day Care and pre-school programs.
* Ad-hoc unsupervised play in which children are outdoors (unsupervised) for extended periods is a thing of the past.
* The "broken home" (to use an outdated term) is now the norm.
* Attitudes towards children fighting have changed. In the 60s, we were taught to stand up for ourselves and fight back. Today, the police get involved.
* Attitudes towards bullying have changed. We were taught that the best way to deal with a bully is to punch him in the mouth. (Yes, that actually does work!) Today, they teach you to run and tell someone.
Basically, we have broken our society almost beyond repair. Until we regain control over fundamental parenting and fundamental parental discipline, the problem will not be resolved. This isn't a gun problem; this is a societal child rearing problem.
Kannafoot, Exactly, by the time you add participation trophies and expectations of equal results of unequal efforts you have the recipe for disaster.
the question for me as european is ..why have to be two sides and why are weapons such an issue in the usa cos its no issue in canada or europe ..I know of course about the constitution but that raises another question why is it a human right to own weapons today ? back than the settlers needed them but today ? weapons are there to kill ..animals or humans ... so why should anyone beside hunters or soldiers and maybe police own weapons ? I dont understand it at all .... just imagine all these shooting attacks would have been made with knives ...how much damage wold have been done ?
Cat, that's actually a very good question. The reason the entire Bill of Rights came into being was to counter British practices leading up to the American Revolution. The 2nd Amendment is best understood by reading the Declaration of Independence. "To secure these rights, governments are instituted amongst men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, and whenever a government becomes destructive of these rights, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it." Basically, we staunchly defend the right to bear arms because we believe in a fundamental right to overthrow a tyrannical government.
As to practicality of doing so, it point to Egypt and Libya as examples of uprisings against extremely well armed governments. It can be done, even with the type weapons the government has at its disposal versus those of the average person.
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