Some people love their guns for the purpose of hunting. It is a family tradition. They typically do not use or possess semi-automatic or automatic guns, and cannot cause mass human carnage. Personally, I do not have a problem with such gun usage in regulated hunting environments. I used to wonder what pleasure do people derive in killing innocent animals. Come to think of it, it is not much different than being a non-vegetarian, or knowingly or unknowingly using products made with animal skin or fat. The love-hunting folks are just more vertically backward integrated into the supply chain.
People also use guns to kill people in incidents or situations of rage or revenge. When a homicide occurs, there are laws in place to ensure justice is served. If guns are involved in a vast majority of homicides, which are not self-defense, then I am against individual ownership of such guns.
Semi-automatic and automatic weapons have no place in modern society. Those who refer to the second amendment for justifying ownership, represent a societal virus that has plagued their collective consciousness. They are not in touch with the times and live in an alternate reality. They reject examples of countries like Australia which were able to curb gun violence by passing tough gun control laws. Instead, this group continues to blame the failure to apply other existing laws or poor execution of government agencies for mass shootings that occur. They also conveniently and for their own benefit point the discussion to mental health issues.
There is no point in debating with this group. They are fully grown adults, with a specific set of beliefs, that they are entitled to. They will come back with strong arguments, eloquently delivered, as they see the issue from their own distorted perspective. If the country has to see change, it depends on which group outnumbers the other and feels strongly enough about the issue to vote out politicians who resist change in gun control laws.
Greed, once again, is partly at the root of this evil. Gun manufacturers want more and more people to have guns and are a huge part of the gun lobby.
Although politically and practically difficult to achieve, an ideal solution would comprise of the following elements.
1) Similar to car ownership, all guns should require annual registration. Without a valid registration certificate, gun ownership should be illegal.
2) Semi-automatic and automatic weapons which are already out there should be banned. A voluntary program allowing owners of such gun to sell them to the government in exchange for their current market value paid by taxpayer money should be put in place. These guns can then be refurbished for use by law enforcement or military.
Votes can speak louder than guns
None of the above can ever happen so long as the NRA funded politicians remain in the Congress. The first step to bring about the change is to vote them out of power. Read this article to know who these politicians are. Let your votes speak louder than guns.
Finally, follow some gun-control advocacy organizations on social media, so their regular tweets and updates can keep the issue alive in your consciousness. Otherwise, most of us are guilty of temporary passion as an immediate outcome of a tragic event. Also, follow the gun advocates, so their logical – but still ridiculous – arguments can keep the fire in you alive.
Disclaimer: I am no expert on the age-old gun control issue in American politics and society. Common sense does not require that level of expertise anyway.
So Andrew Yang has put forth a perpetual gun buyback program as a part of his plan to combat gun violence.