Eight Ways to save lives and allow gun ownership
Is it time to limit our Second Amendment rights? Limiting constitutional rights is not unique. Our right to freedom of speech has been limited several times since it was approved. The first case reached the Supreme Court in 1919. This was when Justice Brandeis and Holmes argued that free speech could only be curtailed if it presented a “clear and present danger.” Then in 1969, the court added a new standard by saying that it could be suppressed if it is intended to cause “imminent lawless action.” From an ACLU article freedom of expression. We can see here that one of our most precious rights has been rationally limited to fit into today’s world.
Our Second Amendment Right must be looked at in the same light. We need to find a way to let gun owners own appropriate guns and at the same time protect the rest of us from senseless killings and mass shootings. In the past month, we have had four mass shootings. It is time to take action.
Gun violence deaths continue to rise with 2020 being the highest year on record with 19,380 deaths and 39,427 injuries according to an article in the Washington Post. This doesn’t begin to show the ripple effects of pain and agony of the families and friends left behind. We can do better than this. We have to change our thinking that violence is a solution to solving problems. [See the table on the next page.]
All human life is precious and requires protection. We seem to have forgotten that fact. We need to dedicate ourselves to solving the problems in our society related to:
Food Insecurity
Inequality
Justice system reform
Voting rights for everyone.
Eight Ways to save lives and allow gun ownership. There is always a middle ground.
Improve mental Health Services.
Quit teaching our children that violence is the answer to problems through our media. We need to be teaching them alternatives to violence.
Limit ownership of military-style weapons. An individual doesn’t need to own a military AR-15 style weapon or any weapon with a large magazine to hold a large number of bullets.
Strengthen background checks. We don’t need to allow guns in the hands of people with mental health problems.
Initiate a gun buyback program in your city to reduce the number of guns.
Regulate gun dealers and gun show sales to require record keeping and ensure that background checks occur.
Limit the number of guns people can buy at one time. It makes no sense to allow a person to go out and buy 10 guns at a time.
Require that parents keep their guns in gun safes. This will make it harder for children to get guns and either accidentally cause death or commit suicide.
Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
