The definition of Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
The definition of STUPIDITY, is knowing it’s insane, and doing it anyway. That’s where the United States is right now with respect to guns. Zip Code: STUPIDITY.
Two mass shootings over 2 days in California leaving 18 people dead. Lives taken and families forever destroyed. A common tale in American life now. Below is a description of the two shootings. And below that are solutions that we can put in place right now to eradicate this mass shooting epidemic plaguing civilian life. Lastly, I will close with the importance of educating people about guns and how they should Not be revered. They should be frowned upon.
11 people were killed on Saturday night between a dance studio and ballroom in Monterey, California. It was the Lunar New Year. The shooter, 72 year old man, Huu Can Tran, used a semi-automatic pistol with an extended large-capacity magazine. Tran killed himself 12 hours later as police approached him on Sunday morning.
Two days later on Monday, 65 year old Chunil Zhao, killed 7 people between 2 different locations in San Mateo County. Zhao was arrested and charged with 7 counts of murder. A semi-automatic handgun was found in his car.
Even if there were no bad guys, no mentally ill people and no terrorists, there are still way too many guns in circulaiton.
The Problem – Simple Math
1. Too many guns in circulation
2. Too easy access to guns
3. Weapons of war in Civilian Society
The Solution:
The Second Amendment needs to be repealed and replaced. I don’t care what the founding fathers said or meant in 1791. It has No practical application here in 2023. The evidence is in, and it is clear. We have a mass shooting epidemic.
We need to look at the gun industry the way we do with Motor Vehicles and cars. You want to be able to use a gun, get a license. You want to own a gun, get it registered. You want to operate a gun, then get some required gun insurance. Just like we do with cars. The age limit also needs to be raised to 25 years old. 18 to 21 years of age is too young. They’re still in college for Christ sake.
Let’s look at Japan for example: They have a population of 127 million people and yet they rarely see over 10 gun deaths in a year. The US has twice the population of Japan. So technically, the US should only have 20 gun deaths a year. But no. The US has over 30,000 gun deaths a year. Below is how Japan does it:
“If people want to own a gun, they must attend an all-day class, pass a written test, and achieve at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test. Then they have to pass a mental-health evaluation, which takes place at a hospital, and pass a background check, in which the government digs into their criminal record and interviews friends and family. They can only buy shotguns and air rifles — no handguns — and every three years they must retake the class and initial exam.”
Look at Canada, in October of 2022, they banned the sales of all handguns to reduce gun violence in their country. New Zealand instituted a mandatory semi-automatic buyback program in march of 2019 after two consecutive mass shootings on 2 different mosques. New Zealand took the que from Australia who instituted a mandatory buyback of all guns they banned and made illegal in 1996. The net result for Australia was that murders and suicides plummeted. In case anyone is confused, that’s good when murders and suicides plummet.
Furthering The Solution:
1. NO ordinary citizen should be allowed to own any firearms other than a regular handgun that shoots 6 bullets, one at a time. No clips. No magazines.
2. We need to ban ALL assault weapons and any other weapons that can facilitate high capacity magazines.
3. The US needs to initiate a mandatory buyback program for weapons that have been banned, just like Australia and New Zealand did. We have to get those guns out of circulation.
4. Require all gun owners to carry gun insurance.
5. Allow the gun manufacturers to be sued.
EDUCATION:
A “Right” is just an idea. It’s invisible. The Second Amendment is just a bunch of words that were formulated hundreds of years ago that have no practical application in 2023. But, what is very visible, is the physical and tangible mass shooting epidemic plaguing civilian life in the United States.
We need teach people that guns are bad news. Just like we learned as kids to Not play with matches. Guns are bad news. They are Not something to be revered. They should be frowned upon. All of us can teach and preach that message the same way we did years ago with respect to matches.
Does this sound extreme? – It’s not. It’s common sense. You know what’s extreme? Non-stop mass shootings.