dagblog - Comments for "The "Newtown Rules:" I wrote to Joe Biden!"

Thank you.

AmericanDreamer — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:11:53 +0000

In reply to I outlined some of them in

Thank you.

I outlined some of them in

erica20 — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 23:18:21 +0000

I outlined some of them in "Watch out for Joe." I think it basically comes down to making owners responsible for their own activities, as well as what others do with their guns. Stuff like:

Trigger lock for every gun. No exceptions. Keys also need to be locked away.

High-quality gun storage. I am talking about safes. (If you can't afford it, maybe consider penknives.)

Only classic (not semi-auto) weapons may be displayed in your home.

Close supervision of teens with guns. (If your teen takes your gun and kills him/herself or someone else with it, I don't care how devastated and sorry you are. You are going to jail.)

Children under 18 learn to shoot classic (not semi-auto) weapons. (We need to try hard not to get in a big debate about what's what here.)

Ammo locked up separately. (No more going off to bed leaving a gun propped against the wall and a box of ammo in the basement.)

Penalties for biological, step and live-in parents of a child who uses a gun to commit a crime. (Not sure how to do this one, but the idea is, it takes a village.)

No carrying or discharging a gun with a blood alcohol level higher than that at which you could legally drive. Even on your own land. Even in your own home. This is not "Independence Day," in which the habitual drunk sucks it up and protects the world from aliens. You are going to have to shoot your friend in the foot while sober.

Violent behavior loses gun rights. Temporarily or permanently.

Domestic abuse loses gun rights. Temporarily or permanently.

Crazy fast or reckless driving loses gun rights. Temporarily or permanently.

Other forms of antisocial or reckless behavior could lose you your gun rights.

The way your kids behave could lose you your gun rights. Juvenile delinquency or excessive absenteeism from school prompts a call to the home to enquire about gun safety.

If you sell a weapon to someone who uses it to commit a crime, you could lose your gun rights. This will get a lot of blowback from sellers. Who cares?

Stuff like that. Gun ownership is about to become a lot less like fantasy football and a lot more like an actual responsibility.

erica, Kudos - very well done

Aunt Sam — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:42:47 +0000

In reply to The "Newtown Rules:" I wrote to Joe Biden!

erica, Kudos - very well done and of course, sorely needed.

I'm looking forward to his response.

Good for you for writing,

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:31:09 +0000

In reply to The "Newtown Rules:" I wrote to Joe Biden!

Good for you for writing, erica. I hope others will write as well.

I like the frame of rights entailing responsibilities as well. I think that is promising as a way of discussing the issue that many middle of the road citizens will find resonant, or at least acceptable.

Perhaps penalties after the fact for those who violate the rules might be enough of a deterrent to reduce the incidence of bad practices in the first place, depending on how clear and how enforceable the rules are, and what the penalties are.

On this part...

Simply put, the “Newtown Rules” are a set of gun practices in the areas of storage, supervision, safety, sobriety and overall behavior which will hold gun owners to a standard of genuine and suitable responsibility.

I find these a bit vague. Perhaps it is, or will be, obvious to those who read the letter what those practices would be, or perhaps you have not yet formulated more specific thoughts on them.

I might have missed them in other posts or comments but would be interested to hear a bit about current registration practices if you have looked into that or know something about them. Are existing requirements too weak to be effective? Are they unenforceable? Enforceable but generally unenforced?

Also, are you aware of laws anywhere in the country imposing penalties on those who sell firearms without, say, performing a required background check first, certifying they've done so, and posting the information on a database? Is there a practical way to try such a system? Would it be a good idea, worth trying--as possibly having some positive impact? Obviously, this would create an incentive for people to purchase their guns outside of the country, including in places where there are no or meaningless regulations. I am wondering if there is a way of creating any, or more, skin in the game for sellers of firearms.

Thanks for sharing the letter.