In the US, ideally, we'd scoop up all the guns, melt them down and build playground equipment for inner city children.  I have no current use for guns, and would mind in no way living in a society with no guns in it.  

Practically speaking, however, what's the plan? 

Are you rounding up 300 million guns?  Who's doing that?  The beloved police going into Detroit door to door to collect them?

Are you ceasing sales of new guns?  I don't know if I'm comfortable with a scenario where Bob has 5 guns grandfathered in, and his neighbor Jim can't legally obtain one?


I'm generally fine with background checks and some limitations, but I think that's drop in the bucket stuff when we talk about reducing gun violence given the 100's of millions of guns already out there.   

The point being, ignoring all the arguments for guns, lets say the gun lobby caves on all your background checks/gun shows/clip size/etc...  Things will still be shit.  People will still be getting shot routinely.  So what's the real step to go beyond the half-ass politicized solution?

Mandatory smart guns, regular psychological check ups, and a mandatory buy back of dumb guns, with penalties for flouting it.

(August 28, 2015 at 9:18 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: Mandatory smart guns, regular psychological check ups, and a mandatory buy back of dumb guns, with penalties for flouting it.

Penalties for flouting?  That'll have to be a doosey to get standard NRA folk to hand over their guns, let alone a gang or militia.

Well, I didn't say it'd be easy. But if every dumb gun the cops catch gets melted down, that'll be one less gun, and a savings to any buy-back program. And a stiff charge for such possession would deter some, and keep the ones who don't care off the streets longer.

And a buy-back is not "handing over".

I am decidedly pro gun, but I belabor nobody's opinion.

Simply put, humans are quite good at killing each other. (I should know, I was 17 when the US government trained me to do just that.) Removing guns won't really stop much.

Meh, I'll be cold and horizontal before any truly exciting legislation is introduced.

Begin -enforcing- our gun laws, kill the loopholes, remove the incentives people have for engaging in gun violence, and incentivize other behaviours.

Fuck it, offer a $50,000,000 winner-take-all prize at tax-payer expense, and let the confirmed gun nuts sign up to hunt each other to the last man (felons who have been convicted of crimes involving firearms and gang bangers can be rounded up and made to compete). Hold the event somewhere in the SW desert region of the U.S. (no food, water, or supplies other than whatever personal arsenal and ammunition each contestant can carry) and put the whole thing on pay-per-view, which would easily more than cover the upfront cost to the citizens. Melt down every weapon recovered, award the winner his oversized check on a pedestal on live TV, and then put one in his head a minute after the cameras are off.

It won't solve the problem, but it would get some weapons off the streets, and it would be a hell of a lot more entertaining than everything else we are paying for through the cable providers.

Other than that, I suppose we could shoot for a constitutional amendment, but I seriously think my proposal has more chance of happening in my lifetime. 'Cause 'Murica!

More seriously, I think a switch to "smart guns" is the way to go, but I'm damned if I know how the transition is going to work.

First we need smarter gun owners.

(August 28, 2015 at 11:39 pm)Minimalist Wrote: First we need smarter gun owners.

You can't have everything, Min, you crazy utopian.

(August 28, 2015 at 11:39 pm)Minimalist Wrote: First we need smarter gun owners.

Is it easier to make smarter drivers, or install antilock brakes?