Everybody grab your gun

Even if you haven't been paying attention to the news, you know that everyone is talking about gun control, gun owners' rights, etc. There are people in an uproar on both sides of the issue.

On one side the NRA and patriotic Americans are screaming about the right to bear arms guaranteed by the 2nd amendment and demonizing anyone who dares to suggest that the government restrict or regulate the ownership of guns in any way. They have gone so far as to argue that we do not need to improve background checks and that the real problem is that our national system for dealing with those who are mentally ill is the wrong problem. In essence, don't blame the gun, blame the person holding it.

On the other side are liberal pundits and grief-stricken communities calling out for something to be done about the obvious problem of gun violence in America. Without stomping on the 2nd Ammendment, they argue, can't we at least restrict semi-automatic weapon ownership and at a very bare minimum get some better record keeping and monitoring going for the sale of guns? Can we make the most dangerous guns unavailable? This is hardly a radical opinion, and in my opinion it's not a violation of the basic right to bear arms. It's illegal to do a lot of things without a background check and proper licensing-- like drive, get a job working with youth, or start a business. Taken to the extreme, though, it's easy to see where this could go wrong. If we have some sort of national database of gun owners, how would we then decide who is supposed to be allowed to have a gun, how many or what kind? Where would we draw the line? When does it turn into Big Brother?

In light of this dramatically polarizing issue, I have a few suggestions that I'm interested in hearing everyone's opinion on.

1. Everyone gets a gun: What if we authorized every single person in the country to automatically own a gun, issued by the government, when they turn, say, 21. Along with that gun would come training and education. If you decide you don't want a gun, then you can store it in a safety deposit box at the local gun store where it will sit, locked an inaccessible, until which time you may want it for target practice or to combat a tyrannical government. We could keep it secret- no one needs to know whether you've decided to keep your gun at your house or not. The recent media furor over publishing the names of publicly registered gun owners shows that while the idea of the right to bear arms wins out, so does the right to privacy.

In this scenario, we flip the script and make the premise that everyone has a gun and knows how to use it. If you decide to not hold on to that gun, then fine. You can store it in a safe place. But you can also keep that secret. In this way, everyone would have the option to live as they see fit, and at the same time there would be a strong deterrent to crime, tyranny, or any of the other things that gun ownership is historically important in fending off.

2. Make gun applications public: One of the biggest issues surrounding guns is who should be able to have one. What if the application for a gun was, like the application for a liquor license, a public event that you had to announce? Those who have some sort of objection or issue with a certain person getting and holding a gun could come and voice that opposition or hesitation out loud and in public. There could be a committee that could take a vote.

This sounds a little crazy, I know, but if the damage that a gun does is often to a community of people by someone who has been suffering in isolation, doesn't it make sense to bring that person out into the open to the community before the damage is done? There could be parts of the application process involving some sort of basic psych test- and if you throw off red flags for depression, violent tendencies, etc., then you would require counseling before getting your hands on said gun. If not, then you can be recognized as a law-abiding gun owner in your community. Along with that recognition comes a sense of belonging and that, I believe, would help deter people from taking inner wrath and turmoil out on the people around them. In some ways, getting a gun could be a version of a coming of age ritual that exposes you to more social interaction and dependence on the people around you, not less.

What do you think?

Image Source: Mike Saechang via flickr