Common Sense Facts About Guns

Some of what is known about gun violence is the statistical fact that a gun in the home is more likely to be used in a suicide or against a family member than it is in stopping an intruder. Preventive measures should also target suicides, which make up two-thirds of gun deaths in America. At the same time any expansion of background checks should be done carefully to ensure that people aren't discouraged from seeking help for common mental disorders for fear of being reported to a firearms registry. The vast majority of people with mental illnesses who do not have accompanying substance abuse problems are not more violent than your average American. We have to be very careful about stigmatizing people. What makes the most sense is requiring a license to own, purchase, or possess a firearm.  Part of the licensing process should be a requirement for a medical examination to ascertain responsibility and mental competency.  Every gun should be registered to an individual’s license after the gun is sold.  Before the sale, that weapon should be registered to the license of either the retailer or manufacturer.  There is no reason this cannot be done in as much as this is presently what takes place with cars and the Car Fax database.  A small license fee could fund the costs involved in maintaining licensing and gun registrations as well as paying the costs of providing armed protection in all schools.  The costs of protection should not be funded out of federal or local tax dollars but from the sales of guns and ammunition.  One more thing...for all of the wack jobs who claim the government is going to take everyone's guns... you know, the ones who say, "Hitler took their guns, Stalin took their guns, etc..." If that were to happen, the wack jobs would be the first the government would pick up...Governments that take guns also take people like our paranoid wack jobs!