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struggle4progress

(118,294 posts)
Sat Nov 11, 2017, 07:39 AM Nov 2017

4 Laws That Could Stem the Rising Threat of Mass Shootings (Scientific American)

By Melinda Wenner Moyer on November 10, 2017

... One clear flaw in federal gun laws is that prospective buyers do not get background checks when buying from private sellers, only when buying from licensed dealers. An effective solution would be to require people to apply, in-person, at local law enforcement agencies for gun purchase permits. This approach would "make it harder for bad guys to buy guns," Wintemute says. These laws are already in place for handgun purchases in 10 states and in Washington, D.C. In a 2009 study involving 53 cities Webster and his colleagues found this approach, which gives law enforcement officials discretion about who they gave permits to, was linked with a 68 percent reduced risk of guns being diverted to criminals post-sale ...

Americans with convictions for domestic violence are already banned for life from buying guns (although again, Kelley fell through the cracks). But that is not the case for other violent offenders. "If I punch my partner and I'm convicted, under federal law I'm prohibited for life," Wintemute says, "but I can punch my next-door neighbor and in most of the country that has no implications for gun ownership whatsoever." California is an illustrative exception: In 1991 the state passed a law preventing individuals with violent convictions from buying guns. And in a study published in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001 Wintemute and his colleagues studied its effects. Convicts who were allowed to buy guns before the law passed were nearly 30 percent more likely to be arrested later for a gun crime or other violent act compared with convicts who tried, but were unable, to buy guns after the law was passed ...

The federal statute preventing domestic violence criminals from having guns has a big loophole: Guns often aren’t taken away unless criminals voluntarily relinquish them to local law enforcement agencies. So offenders can get out of jail and immediately start using guns they have cached. Some states are now passing state laws requiring individuals convicted of domestic violence crimes to surrender their firearms; an October 2017 study found that these "relinquishment" laws are nearly 50 percent more effective than non-relinquishment laws at reducing intimate partner violence ...

Federal law prohibits people who are addicted to and/or unlawfully using controlled substances from owning guns. But recent data suggest some nine million U.S. firearm owners also binge drink, which is a specific medical problem involving abuse of the substance alcohol. Wintemute’s research suggests people with DUIs (driving under the influence) are four to five times as likely as people with no criminal record to be arrested for a violent crime in the future. Based on these data, Wintemute proposes a temporary ban on gun possession among individuals who have had, in the past five years, two or more convictions for DUI or another crime that indicates alcohol abuse ...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/4-laws-that-could-stem-the-rising-threat-of-mass-shootings/

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4 Laws That Could Stem the Rising Threat of Mass Shootings (Scientific American) (Original Post) struggle4progress Nov 2017 OP
Nope, I've been told repeatedly that.... krispos42 Nov 2017 #1
Newsflash: Big, Liberal Science wants to take away your guns! DetlefK Nov 2017 #2
Common sense, but nice to have it backed up by science. Thanks for the article! Squinch Nov 2017 #3
Glad to hear that Scientific American is catching up to the rest of us...still not enough. Sancho Nov 2017 #4
Kick and recommend. bronxiteforever Nov 2017 #5
Pretty weak tea. Scruffy1 Nov 2017 #6
We need to dismantle the large number of HeartachesNhangovers Nov 2017 #7
Let's be sure to offer those particular issues our thoughts and prayers first struggle4progress Nov 2017 #9
We need to make gun-fuckery socially unacceptable, just as we have drunk driving... hunter Nov 2017 #8
K & R...for visibility...nt Wounded Bear Nov 2017 #10

krispos42

(49,445 posts)
1. Nope, I've been told repeatedly that....
Sat Nov 11, 2017, 07:49 AM
Nov 2017

...the problem is the guns that look military.

If we can make the guns look not-military it will stop mass shootings.

Sancho

(9,070 posts)
4. Glad to hear that Scientific American is catching up to the rest of us...still not enough.
Sat Nov 11, 2017, 09:36 AM
Nov 2017

People Control, Not Gun Control

This is my generic response to gun threads where people are shot and killed by the dumb or criminal possession of guns. For the record, I grew up in the South and on military bases. I was taught about firearms as a child, and I grew up hunting, was a member of the NRA, and I still own guns. In the 70’s, I dropped out of the NRA because they become more radical and less interested in safety and training. Some personal experiences where people I know were involved in shootings caused me to realize that anyone could obtain and posses a gun no matter how illogical it was for them to have a gun. Also, easy access to more powerful guns, guns in the hands of children, and guns that weren’t secured are out of control in our society. As such, here’s what I now think ought to be the requirements to possess a gun. I’m not debating the legal language, I just think it’s the reasonable way to stop the shootings. Notice, none of this restricts the type of guns sold. This is aimed at the people who shoot others, because it’s clear that they should never have had a gun.

1.) Anyone in possession of a gun (whether they own it or not) should have a regularly renewed license. If you want to call it a permit, certificate, or something else that's fine.
2.) To get a license, you should have a background check, and be examined by a professional for emotional and mental stability appropriate for gun possession. It might be appropriate to require that examination to be accompanied by references from family, friends, employers, etc. This check is not to subject you to a mental health diagnosis, just check on your superficial and apparent gun-worthyness.
3.) To get the license, you should be required to take a safety course and pass a test appropriate to the type of gun you want to use.
4.) To get a license, you should be over 21. Under 21, you could only use a gun under direct supervision of a licensed person and after obtaining a learner’s license. Your license might be restricted if you have children or criminals or other unsafe people living in your home. (If you want to argue 18 or 25 or some other age, fine. 21 makes sense to me.)
5.) If you possess a gun, you would have to carry a liability insurance policy specifically for gun ownership - and likely you would have to provide proof of appropriate storage, security, and whatever statistical reasons that emerge that would drive the costs and ability to get insurance.
6.) You could not purchase a gun or ammunition without a license, and purchases would have a waiting period.
7.) If you possess a gun without a license, you go to jail, the gun is impounded, and a judge will have to let you go (just like a DUI).
8.) No one should carry an unsecured gun (except in a locked case, unloaded) when outside of home. Guns should be secure when transporting to a shooting event without demonstrating a special need. Their license should indicate training and special carry circumstances beyond recreational shooting (security guard, etc.). If you are carrying your gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you lose your gun and license.
9.) If you buy, sell, give away, or inherit a gun, your license information should be recorded.
10.) If you accidentally discharge your gun, commit a crime, get referred by a mental health professional, are served a restraining order, etc., you should lose your license and guns until reinstated by a serious relicensing process.

Most of you know that a license is no big deal. Besides a driver’s license you need a license to fish, operate a boat, or many other activities. I realize these differ by state, but that is not a reason to let anyone without a bit of sense pack a semiautomatic weapon in public, on the roads, and in schools. I think we need to make it much harder for some people to have guns.

Scruffy1

(3,256 posts)
6. Pretty weak tea.
Sat Nov 11, 2017, 10:42 AM
Nov 2017

As long as guns are cheap and plentiful it will be easy to get one. One just has to look at how effective Chicagos gun laws have been. Making it illegal for some people to own them won't stop any determined person from obtaining one. The black market on guns is already huge and the risks of being caught are small. I think anything short of a near total ban on handguns and semi-automatic weapons is the only answer. Australia has done this and it seems to have produced good results.

7. We need to dismantle the large number of
Sat Nov 11, 2017, 12:29 PM
Nov 2017

dumb, pointless gun laws already on the books before we add any more.

Example: Any non-prohibited person can go out and buy a rifle. But if they want to reduce the barrel length to less than 16 inches, they need to pay a $200 tax to the federal government and wait months for the forms to be approved. Stupid!

hunter

(38,317 posts)
8. We need to make gun-fuckery socially unacceptable, just as we have drunk driving...
Sat Nov 11, 2017, 03:00 PM
Nov 2017

... or molesting fourteen year olds.

That guy dressed in cammo, fondling his guns in public, lovingly adding more and increasingly powerful guns to his collection, is a pervert.

The second amendment as it is now interpreted is an ugly Constitutional anachronism, just as slavery was.



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