People this isn't hard…

[BrokenQuill92]

Here's my alternative rules:
1. Look at the countries which have the lowest rates of gun deaths
2. Adopt their gun laws

Yeah but those places don't allow their citizens access to firearms. And I'm not so naïve as to think that would happen here. So my list was trying to a least be reasonable.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Here's my alternative rules:
1. Look at the countries which have the lowest rates of gun deaths
2. Adopt their gun laws

Yeah but those places don't allow their citizens access to firearms. And I'm not so naïve as to think that would happen here. So my list was trying to a least be reasonable.

Actually, some of them DO allow access to firearms. New Zealand is awash in personally-owned firearms and has a gun-related death rate about 1/10th that of the US. The primary difference is that it is more difficult to get a gun license in NZ, and this license can be suspended or revoked for various infractions, such as not having your guns locked up, or having them loaded while in the house or during transport.

Boru

[Little lunch]

I wish Australia had America's gun laws.
We just have way too many stabbings here.

[Cecelia]

Step 1: Require licenses to purchase a gun.
Step 2: Licenses require psych eval, training, and testing (including knowing the dangers of guns, and knowing how to properly store one)
Step 3: Make it illegal to sell a gun to someone without a license. .

[Thumpalumpacus]

Re 7): Ranchers will often use AR-15s to kill predators which would threaten their prey. Are you seriously suggesting they should revert to hand weapons?

That was the biggie that jumped out at me.

[brewer]

1. Agree. Need to define specifics. I think in some countries this is done through the police.
2. Need to define the non qualifying mental illnesses. i.e. should social anxiety disorder exclude ownership?
3. Need to define the non qualifying disabilities. i.e. would a below the knee amputation exclude ownership?
4. Agree. Need to define specifics.
5. What counts as an antique? I have a 1905 that still functions.
6. Don't agree. I have some of these weapons that are only used for range shooting. I have used a sporter AK47 for hunting.
7. Not worth discussing. Stop being a child.
8. Not worth discussing. Stop being a child.
9. Agree. Will add that there are other storage methods than a safe.
10. Define kid. I started safe hunting at age 10. Never shot any human.
11. See 9.
12. Partially agree. Would suggest that all sales have to be completed through a registered firearms dealer. You can buy from a private person or the internet, the final transaction has to be done through a registered dealer.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I'm sure I've posted this before, but this is the procedure of getting a gun license here:

1.  Attend a safety course at a police station in your district.  Sit and pass the test at the end of the course.

2.  Fill in the application form.

3.  Take your application to a PostShop and pay the fees:
    -Basic license for sporting firearms or air rifles:  $126.00
    -Endorsements for pistols, shotguns, military style weapons, etc:  $204.00 per endorsement

4.  Go back to the police station where you took the safety course and bring with you: your application form; proof that you passed the safety course; two recent passport-style photos; three documents that prove your identity; contact information for two character referees - one must be your spouse, partner, or next of kin, the other must be someone over 20 years of age and known to you personally; and the receipt the PostShop gave you for paying your fees.


5.  After reviewing and approving your documents, someone from the local police will 1) visit - in person - your two character references without you being present and 2) arrange to visit you at your home to interview you and approve your security arrangements for owning a firearm.  You will fail the interview if the interviewer finds that:
  -You have a history of violence.
  -You've had repeated involvement with drugs.
  -You've been irresponsible with alcohol.
  -You have a personal or social relationship with people deemed to be unsuitable to be given access to firearms.
  -You indicate a desire to use firearms for self-defense.

To pass the security review, you must
  -Have a security system installed at your home that meets minimum standards.
  -Have a secure, lockable rack, closet, steel cabinet or strongroom.
  -Have a separate secure,lockable area for the storage of ammunition.

6.  If you pass all of the above vetting, you will receive a firearms license good for ten years, at which point, you must apply for renewal.  If your firearms license is ever suspended, you may reapply for renewal at the end of the suspension period.

With all of that to get through, NZ has about 25 guns per 100 residents, and a gun homicide rate of 0.18 per 100 000.  So, it is clearly possible to have a society where responsible people can have access to firearms and at the same time have very rare instances of people shooting each other.

Boru

[Alex K]

@Boru
The # of firearms per capita seems near miraculous in light of these procedures. I would have expected it to cost more, too, if two police have to do interviews.

[Thumpalumpacus]

"No mentally ill people" is a very problematic generalization though. Where do you draw the line, and which mental illnesses count?

I was recently corrected on this point by both Rhythm and Jormungandr. According to several different Federal agencies, the mentally ill make up a disproportionately small percentage of gun murders.

[Aegon]

So here's Alaina's rules for gun ownership

1. Go get a psyche eval

2. No mentally ill people

3. No disabled people

4. Vets can have their guns back if they don't have ptsd or any other mental disorder

5. Antiques (collectibles not meant to be fired) don't count

6.  You don't need a fucking AK-47, uzi, rocket launcher, flame thrower, elephant pistol or anything of the like. Don't split hairs you know exactly which weapons I mean.  If it's the size of a six-year-old you don't need it.

7. If you need to bring down your prey with a gun you're a pussy and don't need to go hunting.  Use a bow or spear like a real man.

8.  If you have more than two guns  for self-defense you're a weak bitch. Guns won't save your bitch ass.

9.  Don't keep your guns around fucking kids.  Get a goddamn safe.  If a kid shoots  you deserve to die.

10.  Don't give your goddamn kid a gun.  They do not have the mental understanding or the restraint to use a deadly weapon.

11.  If you keep your guns anywhere other then your  safe,  you don't get to have them anymore.

12.  No more private sales,  Internet sales,  gun show sales,  that don't involve registration.

1. Okay

2. All mental illnesses? ADHD? Anxiety? 

3. All disabled persons? Those with cerebral palsy?

4.  So they're the same as anybody else.

5. I agree (assuming the cutoff for being antique is the beginning of the 20th century)

6. Why should you be able to tell me what kind of firearm I can own? I don't need a lot of things. It's about what I want. If I want a bigger gun who are you to say I can't? Most shootings in the U.S. are done with smaller firearms anyway.

7. I assume you're kidding here, but like another user said a bow-and-arrow can kill people too

8. If I live in a troubled area you don't think it's a good idea to have more than one firearm in the house? If I keep my firearm by my bedside and somebody breaks in while I'm making midnight pudding, it isn't going to be a lot of help now is it?

9 & 10. So instead of teaching a kid what the gun is and how it is used so that they can be responsible around them, I should keep the gun locked away and the kid ignorant of it until the day he somehow finds it and shoots somebody? Smart parenting

11. I guess, but in cases of self-defense I'd think having to unlock a safe would be a bit of a burden

12. I agree