Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Gun Controls, Responsible Laws are needed

The second amendment: The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Notice the beginning of the amendment, a well regulated militia. Now the Supreme Court in the Heller case gave individuals the right to bear arms individually. Normally it was related to well regulated militia and the courts looked at types of guns and purpose of guns. Was it military use? Used for militia? Now with this case and the presidency of Obama, less people have bought more and more guns. The percentage of Americans that have guns have decreased but the number of guns owned is over 300 million. The following are gun statistics from Gunviolencearchive dated July 15, 2015. I want to look at accidental shootings Some statistics state that 100 children die per year due to accidental shootings. Below it lists 1658 children killed or injured. It also lists 1004 accidental shootings. Total Number of Incidents 26,469 Number of Deaths1 6,800 Number of Injuries1 13,580 Number of Children (age 0-11) Killed/Injured1 376 Number of Teens (age 12-17) Killed/Injured1 1,282 Mass Shooting2 162 Officer Involved Shooting2 2,334 Home Invasion2 1,168 Defensive Use2 642 Accidental Shooting2 1,004 Now since most Congressmen and women will not create legislation on background checks, or laws about gun shows or loopholes, there are other ways to regulate gun use and practices. Regulations are expected and regulations and restrictions are on every amendment and right. The freedom of speech or religion are not unlimited and have practices that are not allowed in our country. The same can be said for the second amendment. My ideas do not relate to these restrictions, they are related to insurance and punishment. Gun owners should purchase insurance for their guns. There should be a new market for insurance with companies providing gun insurance to all types of guns. If the gun is a hand gun or AR-15 it would have a different rate than a standard shotgun for hunting. The insurance companies would rate people based on age, gun safety courses taken, tests taken, safety practices. The gun insurance would pay out due to accidental shootings, property damage, hospital bills. The insurance would put a cost on guns that relate to responsibility. The more responsible, the lower the rate. Now with punishment of gun accidents. They are called accidents, but most are preventable. Children, toddlers and teens have access to guns. Our children are finding the guns and playing with the guns and then the gun goes off. Responsible gun owners lock up their guns with no access to the key. Responsible gun owners do not have loaded guns available in the open. If a guardian is not responsible with their guns with the two options, they will be charged for the "accident". I know the people are punished for losing a loved one, and this hurts the family tremendously. We need to let the other gun owners, the ones that the accident has not happen to be responsible. I am not saying a parent should be charged with murder, but there should be a consequence. Jail time, fines are within the parameters. States can have the choice of punishments, but it is so sad seeing the deaths over and over in the news. People might say, the numbers are low. This does not happen often. The idea about a law, if it saves one life, it is worth it. If I can allow law abiding citizens their right to own and use a gun, but save a life, the law is acceptable and so worth it. A life is worth more than ownership of a gun. Thoughts? Ideas?

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