Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
That's an odd conclusion. I'm OK with the government banning say, and private ownership of nuclear materials, I don't see that as being an unreasonable position. One of the purposes of government is to regulate things for all sorts of reasons. This is reasonable and necessary for society to function.
You take issue with a banning certain items because you find that unreasonable. That's a position you are free to take, but your own personal values are in opposition to the values others hold. Government must find a balance, and that's what they are doing. I'm not going to say it has gone to far one way or another, but this push and pull is part of the process. And for a lot of the population, they see sacrificing a hobby for safety is a reasonable trade off.
I do believe some people have a legitimate need for guns in this country, but even for them I don't see a justification for a weapon that can fire more than a few rounds in quick succession.
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Every time there is an event it gets me thinking about what could be done to really change the conversation. For the most part we just talk about regulating a subset of the guns out there and take incremental steps that ultimately do not solve the problem.
People like guns... but do we have to have them in our homes? I think our society needs to change its relationship with guns and I guess it comes down to whether or not private ownership of guns is necessary or if it can be replaced with public ownership of guns (Guns As A Service).
Pros of Private Ownership:
- Armed citizens in case of foreign invasion or if we need to rise up against our government
- Self defense
- Convenience
Cons of Private Ownership:
- Less control over gun ownership - Where are all the guns?
- Guns are used in crimes (robberies, etc)
- Guns are used in mass shooting events
- Cost of maintaining guns
- Cost of storing guns properly
- Risk that poor maintenance or storage could create an accident (primary example - child death)
What if gun ownership was shifted to a public service? Like a library or the tool libraries that some communities are exploring. Essentially every police station or shooting range could become a branch of the Gun Library and people could go to the local spot to check out their guns for their hunting trips or whatever.
To add benefit, using the firing range could become a free service (like going to the library).
- If you want to go for your daily / weekly / monthly range time you could book time as you see fit.
- If it becomes a busy service then setting up a booking service for range time and specific guns would be needed (like booking a tee time) and then opening additional ranges if more capacity is needed.
- If the costs get really high then add a charge for ammo used. Note: Ammo costs should actually go down as the government would be able to purchase / manufacture ammo in bulk and sell it at cost to citizens.
I think making it at the police stations would also help to move the police more into community engagement instead of just driving around enforcing laws. Encourage citizens to go to the local police station to get gun lessons from the range master would help build relationships and trust between the police and the people they serve.
In the end, I think the biggest problem with this approach is the rural homestead where they may have a gun for shooting predators that are attacking their herd. If there is a situation like that it would not be ideal to expect a person to drive into town to the nearest Gun Library to book out a gun. But, chances are they are not going to catch the predator in the heat of the moment, so they could have time to drive into town, book out a gun for a week, and then set up a trap to shoot the predator...
Then again, maybe the answer is as simple as "permanent borrowing" of the gun. The Gun Library could show up, install the appropriate gun storage, and leave the gun with the homeowner with quarterly check ins to ensure that the gun is staying stored properly and maintained. If the gun renter does not know how to maintain the gun then the service could do that during the check in for a fee.
I think there is a good argument for public ownership of firearms.