I've been giving some thought to what I believe "reasonable" gun control
should look like. It goes something like this...
First of all - I accept the possibility that the government has the ability
to take away your right to own a weapon; after all, the government has the
ability to restrict your other fundamental rights if you violate the social
contract. Commit a violent crime, be adjudged insane, etc. The flip side of that
coin is that there should be a clear route to having your rights restored -
serve your time, be adjudged no longer insane, etc. If you feel someone is too
dangerous to own a firearm, why are they on the streets at all? All of the
following statements have an assumption that the owners/users are otherwise
law-abiding citizens.
- No restrictions on purchase or possession on private property of any
firearm that throws a non-explosive projectile. Muzzle-loading single shot
musket through fully-automatic tripod-mounted machinegun.
- Purchasers of firearms may be required to go through an instant
background check to make sure they are not prohibited persons (see above) -
no storage of records.
- To carry concealed in public requiring a certification that the person
carrying has passed a basic firearms safety course. This course to be
readily available at a nominal cost - not to serve as a barrier to
ownership.
- No duty to retreat, and a Castle Doctrine.
Who is a prohibited person? Someone who has been convicted of a violent
felony, and is on parole for that felony, or who has been sentenced to being a
prohibited person as part of his sentence for a violent crime (IE, 5 years
prison and another 5 years of being a prohibited person). Someone who has a
medical condition that would make them unsafe to own a firearm (damn rare) or
carry in public (somewhat less rare); defined fairly tightly to prevent abuse.
That's it.
I'd accept firearms registration, or owner registration, only if there
was an iron-clad CONSTITUTIONAL guarantee that there would be no use of the
register to disarm or otherwise restrict ownership. Doubt that's going to
happen, and given the history of gun/owner registries (it starts with a registry
- then a ban and a round-up of the registered and now-illegal guns) it would
have to be really convincing.