The Gun
Control National Guard -- A 10-Year Plan
The only sensible way to solve the gun
problem is to strictly implement the 2nd Amendment. In its entirety, the 2nd Amendment reads:
“A well regulated militia, being necessary
to the security of a
·
ON DAY ONE --
every gun owner IS a fully responsible member of the “Gun Control National
Guard”! The paperwork moves along on an
orderly schedule.
The
first 5-years should concentrate on this legal process of inducting or
impressing EVERY OWNER of a pistol or rifle or other military weapon into the
Guard. Additionally we register every
weapon, record every sale of ammunition, and require secure storage facilities.
The
second 5-years concentrates on insuring that weapon storage is in fact secure
-- like a very sturdy box and including some electronic counter measures.
The
gun owner is a soldier, and if you steal a gun or otherwise take possession, at
that instant you are also “enlisting” in the Gun Control National Guard. And you don’t get out of the Gun Control
National Guard -- or military jail -- until military authorities are convinced
that you are obeying the gun laws.
You
have one and only one order: Guard that
weapon SECURELY! You don’t have to go to
war. You don’t have to do anything
else. “GUARD THAT WEAPON SECURELY SOLDIER!”
·
And this also
means, if someone steals your gun -- because of your negligence in failing to
properly secure that weapon -- at whatever level the 10-year law requires for
that point in time -- then you also share responsibility with whatever that
person does: who steals your gun. That
means you SHARE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
-- UNDER MILITARY JUSTICE.
·
At this point I
must strongly recommend that this new military law be strictly drawn, so as not
to impose military sanctions in such a way that would violate the soldier’s
civilian rights.
These
are non-volunteer inductees, and we must preserve their civil rights as a matter
of principle. Military inspections --
say in the 2nd 5-years -- might be a problem area.
We
might have a one-time inspection sometime after the law requires these
protection devices -- or when a new gun owner signs up for the Gun Control National
Guard? Or maybe every time there’s a new
gun? Or every Saturday morning? And then where do you draw the line? I don’t want to push that one very far for
the next 10-years. Just mind the
Constitution and try to respect people’s privacy.
The
existence of this privacy factor should encourage us to strongly advance -- for
the 2nd 5-years -- the electronic countermeasures to be part of the weapon’s
security system. This to better protect
individual privacy. How can we make that
storage system secure, without crowding people’s rights? There are a lot of people who just don’t like
other people messing with them.
If
someone “really” needs a gun, perhaps we should consider some financial
assistance for their storage facilities -- I don’t like that idea very much,
but in the first 10-years we should try to meet that need without too great a
burden on our “citizen-soldier”.
We
should have voluntary compliance for the first 5-years, with these rules on
weapon safety and a person’s informing the Gun Control National Guard that they
have a gun, and need to “enlist” in the Guard.
Or perhaps after 3-years we might start imposing minor fines or
something.
At
the end of the first 5-year period -- every gun “possessor” WILL BE under
military authority -- and every weapon WILL BE registered and in secure storage
-- a good strong box, maybe cemented in the ground, which also has electronic
tamper protection, with communications capability, which can initiate warnings
to police or other responsible authorities -- via cell-phone or other means.
Let’s
start out slowly on the enforcement and sanctions, over those 2nd 5-years, on
the additional new requirements for the storage box -- electronic counter
measures. Those are the first things
that are going to cost very much money, and there will be problems.
We
should require trigger locks, child proof triggers -- TO THE EXTENT ALL THIS IS
PRACTICAL -- and some kind of device or system, that can detect whether a
particular gun, is in it’s holder, securely, in the safe box. The holder device could have a sensing
mechanism or something like that.
If
this can be done practically let’s make this a firm requirement at the end of
5-years. Simple, easy and effective.
Some
of these imbedded gun devices could be useful: but should probably be voluntary
throughout the 10-year period. During
Year 9 we can debate what should come next.
The Guard needs to lag behind the technology with its requirements for a
few years.
The
government should subsidize some experimental devices or procedures, various
things -- on a voluntary basis -- for the 10-years. Plus of course what is in the law -- from the
beginning -- specifying things for the end of 5-years.
·
Everything. One law.
Ten years: Autumn 1999. Do it now!
In 2009 we can have a grand debate about Constitutional issues. Just remember. There is one AND ONLY ONE order: “Guard
that weapon securely soldier!”
·
I would encourage
the Congress to consider carefully the ways our Constitutional Federalism --
with local Guard Units everywhere -- could be properly employed in different
areas of the country -- and in particular in rural vs. urban settings.
·
This is another
political gain Republicans can achieve.
I know there are lots of rugged individualists out in the
countryside. If they will compromise a
little bit, I think we can actually start to accomplish something in the
cities. We know where the gun problems
are. We must focus our efforts on that.
Certainly
we should set up this divide for implementation purposes and during the
5-and-10 years, experiment with different implementations in different areas --
shotgun owners in rattlesnake country get some kind of loophole -- you know,
that sort of thing.
With
this, I think it would be a good idea to encourage voluntary association of
some of these same “citizen-soldiers” in civil defense type work, especially in
natural disasters and such things. The
Guard Armory can be an information center for this.
·
Let’s set up the
implementation schedule over the 5-and-10 years -- with gradually increasing
sanctions.
Put
those 5-and-10 year requirements IN THE LAW VERY DIRECTLY -- AT THE BEGINNING
-- and everyone agrees that this settles the problem with no new law for 10-years. I would call this a very big bonus for
Republicans! After 10-years someone may
want to change something, of course.
The
one complicated thing here would be in the years 5-to-10 with the tradeoff of
real safety needs of some individuals vs. the requirement for safe storage --
whatever the law says that to be, from the very beginning.
Also
we should experiment with individual voice recognition, and finger-print
identification to open the storage in an emergency -- and call the police at the same time.
·
Get nervous about
guns Republicans! If you don’t do what I’m recommending you will
be on the political defensive on this issue for the next 10-years.
·
There is a
constitutional question about whether that order for “secure storage of a
weapon” could be expanded to force off-site storage, say in
the Armory of the Gun Control National Guard.
We
can debate that over the next 10-years, as we also classify the different kinds
of needs for a person to own and/or carry a weapon, concealed or otherwise.
I
believe the most important and most effective protection against gun violence
will be the actual act of the owner choosing to safeguard his or her weapon --
free of charge -- at the Guard Armory.
This
means the federal government should start building these armory buildings NOW
-- and encouraging people to use them.
This
simple voluntary act will allow us to start to isolate the gun problems --
which will be unregistered soldiers and unregistered guns.
·
At the end of
10-years we should be complete with effective safe storage in the owner’s home
-- and significant safe-guarding at the Armories.
And
anyone in the world who manufactures any kind of gun or other military weapon
-- will in fact play proper cricket with the Gun Control National Guard.
AND REMEMBER: ANY violation
of any laws regarding the use and safe-keeping of that weapon -- shall be met
with strict
military discipline! -- including if you negligently let your gun get
stolen!
·
Also, EVERY
pistol or other military weapon shall be registered with a serial number and as
good a bullet markings firing pattern as can be achieved -- possibly repeated
from to time to time if the inside of the barrel will change over time with
continued use.
After the 10-years phase-in time is
complete, we must revisit this issue. We
must allow our crime statistics to mold our response as to how strict our
weapon safety regime should be.
I’ve tried to accommodate the
Constitutional requirements of the Second Amendment. The current status of this in the Supreme
Court is that the 2nd Amendment does not prohibit gun control measures.
We must also obey the Constitution when it
requires the government to guard the safety of the citizens and promote
domestic tranquility.
There is a legal and philosophical
argument about the Constitution here.
Many “strict-constructionists” would say that the 2nd Amendment forbids
gun control. So I think it’s fair in our
debate that we try to examine the original intent of those learned and serious
people who wrote the Constitution.
What do YOU think our “original constructors” would have thought about
fully automatic machine-pistols? They
didn’t even have six-shooters or repeating rifles then.
Our “Self-Appointed Militia” -- those
folks out there pulling the triggers -- IS NOT WELL REGULATED! Thank you Art Buchwald.
GUARD
THAT WEAPON SECURELY SOLDIER!
I know many people have strong feelings
about gun control. I have strong
feelings about people getting shot!
mike-egger@libt-social-dem.org
Founding Director,
The
World-Wide Caucus For Libertarian Social Democracy