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Rob Freda

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Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

First that this idea even needs to be broached in the first place is ridiculous especially given the lack of clarity in the second amendment (eg it does not specify types of arms so that should be handled by laws not as a "do what you will free for all").

That said it seems there are some major elements that would be necessary to reduce gun deaths in the US and there are some obfuscating interests embodied in the NRA that must be sidestepped or accommodated in the solution.

Four main areas of focus jump out to reduce gun deaths:

1) "mass killings" (included in this would be the 2 or 3 person shootings as well as as Newtown or Aurora types)
2) Accidental shootings
3) Non-owner shootings (eg the shooter is not the owner of the gun)
4) "black market" trading

Added to these I would say the parameter that makes gun control legislation difficult is gun manufacturer revenue stream protection using the second amendment as a shill.

So what are the necessary parameters to make something happen vs. the absurdity of what is going to happen over the next few months in Washington:

1) Figure out a way that shifting policy creates more revenue for gun manufacturers so they get the NRA on board
2) Make sure that guns cannot be used in public places or by someone other than their owner

The Idea - Mandatory gun locks and universal kill switches.

On locks, all responsible gun owners have gun safes. Why not move the lock to the gun's trigger mechanism either with a combination code or biometric locks. That would prevent unauthorized use of the gun by anyone but the owner.

On kill switches, in the same locking mechanism put a chip and actuator that freezes the locking mechanism mentioned above when it receives a certain modulated radio signal.

If mandatory then all existing guns will have to be refitted with the new bolt mechanism creating revenue streams for the gun manufacturers and on all new guns they can charge more creating more revenue.

Thoughts?

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  • Jared Simmering

    • 0
    Feb 2 2013: I'm sorry but I think you ALL are missing an important point. For the sake of argument, let's just say that the USA is completely assault rifle free. Well, let's say that only cops and military "legally" have them, because of course, those that want to commit murder with an assault rifle WILL find illegals ways to get one. What will that solve? I'll let you all know right now, it won't solve one thing. Don't think so? Look up Ted Kaczynski on wiki or a simple Google search and dispute me. Is the United States going to ban everything that is listed in the Anarchist Cookbook? Let's ban all vehicles since they kill people. Oh, and let's start Prohibition again since alcohol effects judgement and motive skills. Wake up and realize that we are human beings and we are incapable of creating a Utopian Atlantis and bad things have, do, and will always continue to happen to "good" innocent people.

    Live your life to the best of your ability and throughout that life feel privileged that the Atomic Bomb was tested on Japan twice and not here in the USA killing your relatives. People die. Get over it. It doesn't matter if you're "good", "innocent", or "holy." We all have the same outcome. I feel sorry that your children, parents, and/or relatives in general were killed in a dreadful way. You can't and won't fix this problem from occurring again and again.

    "Gun nuts" ?? Are you saying everyone that owns a gun is crazy? The people that I know (including myself) that are gun owners are blue collar works that fix your plumbing and heating & air that recently are having troubles with everyday expenses. So forcing gun owners to pay more money for these ridiculous requirements is ludicrous.

    That's my two cents. Thank you for your time.

    • Darren Duckworth

      • +1
      Feb 2 2013: Yes people can get hold of guns illegally... But making them illegal will reduce the likelihood they will get their hands on one.
      And you know it.
      People who are going to go on a shooting rampage will be less effective without these assault weapons
      And you know it.
      How many psychos have gone a killing rampage in a school, with their Car? Comparing the wrong person with any gun with the wrong person behind a wheel is unintelligent.
      And you know it.
      Utopian ideas will always be impossible as long as there's people with your inability to see common sense around.
      We all die anyway, what does it matter if its by the hands of a gun? Are you serious?
      As an outsider to the US, you guys in general do seem to be nuts about guns. I.e you like them a lot. But no one is suggesting that all gun owners are crazy.
      And you know it.
      Guns aren't a necessity, so go without if they're expensive. Us Australians manage to get through each day without, I'm sure you could too.

      No amount of word acrobatics and fact twisting changes some straight forward statistics. Your country has an astonishing gun violence problem... And countries like mine without a gun culture, without gun lobbies & with tight restrictions enjoy a far better crime rate.

      • timothy schlotter

        • +2
        Feb 2 2013: interesting! so, by your logic, we should have a lot less drugs around because they are illegal.As for gun deaths verses auto deaths, the autos win every time, so, who's argument is unintelligent?And I wish you Aussies would stop comparing yourselves with us.

        • Darren Duckworth

          • +1
          Feb 2 2013: I did have a reply to this, but when I went to another tab and came back... This page refreshed itself for some reason and I'm not typing it all again. Your being obtuse. Of course there would be more drugs if they were legal.... Are you dense? Look at nicotine cigarettes & alcohol!

          I was comparing 'autos' vs guns in terms of using them to commit a murder. The the auto deaths your talking about we're A C C I D E N T S. do you see the difference?

          You Aussies? Lol. Yes I can understand your frustration, your country is full of embarrassing stats. Sorry I'll try not to bring it up anymore :). (My country isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, believe me we have our problems, but gun control isn't one of them)

        • Jared Simmering

          • 0
          Feb 3 2013: Oh, see I thought I was just talking to an Aussie. That is, one Aussie as an individual. If I knew I was talking to THE Aussie that runs his country and knows everything I would have spoken differently. Embarrassing stats? How did Australia start again? Oh, yes, I think I remember. Didn't it have to do with prison colonies in 1788?

          Comparing the two without including accidents doesn't make much sense. The media does the same thing all the time. They give you a portion of the information instead of giving you all of it.

          "God made man but Samuel Colt made them equal." A country with no guns is a defenseless country.

        • Darren Duckworth

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          Feb 4 2013: Really Jared? Haha, that's rather amusing :). It feels like your trying to engage me in the type of argument one might hear in a primary school playground!

          Yes yes, and when I said 'your country' I figured I was talking to President Jared! Haha

          I see you learnt a little Aussie history too... Isn't google great! Haha. But if I was going to attack Australian history I woulda gone with the way our founders treated the aboriginals.

          Now to blind side you... The media quite often doesn't give it to you straight. We agree on something. Thanks for laugh mate, needed it.

          P.s. a quote in turn

          “Guns, she was reminded then, were not for girls. They were for boys. They were invented by boys. They were invented by boys who had never gotten over their disappointment that accompanying their own orgasm there wasn't a big boom sound.” Lorrie Moore

      • Jared Simmering

        • 0
        Feb 2 2013: Thank you for your reply, Mr Duck.
        1. I don't know that banning assault rifles would reduce the likelihood of citizens obtaining them. Again, Prohibition banned alcohol but did that stop people from having it? Hell no it didn't. People went out of their way to hide, conceal, and consume alcohol so do YOU really think that a legal document is going to stop this?
        2. People that want to cause mass murder are going to find ways of doing it without assault rifles. Ever think, hey....by banning assault rifles these people might find even better ways to commit their crimes?
        3. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in this paragraph. Look at the legit statistics about deaths by gun versus those in car crashes/suicide by carbon dioxide. Oh, and the use of "psycho". Watch Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test, found here on the TED website. After watching that let me know who the real psychopaths are in the world.
        4. Probably my favorite of your paragraphs. "Utopian ideas will always be impossible as long as there's people with your inability to see common sense around." Explain how you're using "common sense" and I'm not. We are HUMANS therefore you HAVE to conclude that a Utopia is an impossibility. Explain how that isn't using common sense.
        5. "We all die anyway, what does it matter if it's by the hands of a gun?" Yes, I was and still am serious. Is it not true? Are you going to live forever? I'd rather go quick with a gun next to my head then to lay in a hospital dying for several weeks or months. Do you disagree?
        6. I don' know that the USA is crazy about guns because I'm not THE USA. Obviously there are people in the USA that aren't because we're having this debate about guns in the USA.
        7. Guns aren't a necessity? They might not be in the perfect Utopian world that you live in.

        We have violence of all kinds in the USA because it's a melting pot of cultures. I've never heard "man wish I lived Australia." Just saying.

        • Jonnie Barnsley

          • +1
          Feb 3 2013: 1. you can't brew your own assault rifles. nor are they easy to smuggle due to their size.
          2. it's like you're trying to make it easy for people to commit mass murder
          3. facepalm.
          5. just hilarious.

          man, i wish i lived in australia.

      • Comment deleted

        • Jonnie Barnsley

          • 0
          Feb 3 2013: I just think that regardless of the comparisons between cars and guns (and there are many), a country with only cars is safer than a country with both cars and guns. comparing the two causes unnecessary argument.

        • Jared Simmering

          • 0
          Feb 3 2013: Nicely stated Tim. Jonnie, how is this comparison an unnecessary argument? It's illogical to say, "Oh, that doesn't matter so we shouldn't discuss it." The invention of the car has killed more people than the gun. Whether the death was even an accident or not is an argument but a rather poor one considering someone still lost their life.

      • timothy schlotter

        • +1
        Feb 3 2013: Apparently some are allowed to belittle others, and some of us are not. that being the case,your arguments don't hold water. making guns illegal has never been proven to stop gun crimes, so no, I don't know it. Your argument that we need to become more like Australia is not going to work as we Americans try to have a society were there are no better class of people, ie., royalty. I understand why other countries want us to get rid of the second amendment, but that will never happen. As to the premise of this discussion, that technology can solve this problem, I have learned much from history, Alfred Noble tried to diminish deaths by making TNT, Mr Gattling did it by making the gattling gun, all failed. The reason for the failure is human. There are some that think about how to use such things to get a head, and they are not stupid. The whole premise is therefore doomed to failure.

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