Parkland
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 11:30 amanother tragedy happened in america. it's horrible that this has happened again, and someone needs to think of the children. mainly, the entire government
the government failed the people of Parkland, "the safest city in Florida". from the FBI who did not follow up on tips about a guy who said he was going to shoot up a school to social services and police that had been warned about the man dozens and dozens of times when the police came to his residence, to having an armed deputy literally stationed at the school to protect the students making 110k a year who hid when the shooting started (he has subsequently retried from the police force). this is a catastrophic failure and resulted in so many lives lost
many want to rush to ban guns, as if that was the issue. on the other side we have equally ridiculous claims like needing to "add" a rating system to movies and video games (thanks trump for talking like hillary clinton about the subject, also, just for the uniformed, there's already rating systems)
so what do we do? i think "doing nothing" is a bad idea, and we can have some movement on trying to stop bad people from having firearms.
First and foremost there needs to be reassessment from all those agencies which miserably failed. heads need to roll over this, many heads, from many agencies. changes need to be implemented so that
1. threats are taken seriously
2. our agencies have the resources available to them to take threats seriously (the manpower)
3. fake threats intentionally made (swatting and the like) that drain our resources and have even caused people's deaths result in the liars receiving worse punishment than if they committed the crimes they were accusing others of doing
at the same time we should look at gun laws.
1. Tax stamps. Raise the tax stamp on title II weapons which includes assault rifles, machine guns, sound suppressors, explosive devices and gadget guns like cane-guns to $2,000 for transferring ownership. An assault rifle is a selective-fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine, by definition. These include AK-47s and M-16s (notably, this does not include AR-15s as they are not capable of selective fire). Machine guns that you can buy currently must have been manufactured before 1986 and also have a $200 tax stamp (current rate is around $18,000 for a M16), in addition to background checks.
2. Machine gun emulators. Any modification to any weapon that increases the rate of fire without positive action on the shooter's part (one pull of trigger, one shot) should be subject to Title II ban.
3. Magazine size. Magazines are limited to 10 with no tax stamp on change of ownership. Magazines 11-20 size have a tax stamp of $20 for each bullet. Magazine sizes beyond that have a tax stamp of $50 for each bullet, so that a magazine of 18 would have a tax of $160, 21 would have a $250 tax and a magazine of 30 would have a $700 tax stamp.
4. Bump stock buyback. Bump stocks, while regulated under Title II for future sales, are retroactively covered and require the tax stamp for continued ownership. A buyback program will give amnesty for a certain amount of time.
4. Punishments for illegal ownership. Illegally possessing firearms result in seizure of all firearms and ammo in entire household regardless of who they are registered to, permanently remove ability for you to posses any Title II weapons and semi automatic weapons and anyone in the same household, along with a ten year ban on all other firearms and heavy fines.
5. National ID. Implement a national identification scheme. This should be done anyway. Your state driver's license will be linked to this national identification. Your social security will be linked to this identification. Your welfare checks will be linked to this identification. Your criminal history will be linked to this identification. Your voter registration will be linked to this identification. Your gun owner registration will be linked to this identification.
6. Firearm Registration. On the left they whine about how people shouldn't need an ID to vote, and on the right they whine that people shouldn't need an ID to own a weapon. Both things should happen, however. You have a right to vote. You have a right to firearms. But both should be associated with a national id card. Both can be taken away if you are convicted of crimes, or other reasonable restrictions determined by the government based on your actions. I will say that I would advocate it for all semi-automatic weapons and above (so your old bolt action hunting rifle? doesn't matter). This would be associated with the ID and checking against the database will see if the person can or can't vote or buy a gun.
7. Background checks. On all sales of firearms, accessories to the firearms, and ammo, including private and bolt action (meaning: even if not registered), you need to verify that the ID from the person you are selling to says it is okay to sell to them.
8. Mental illness. The government can declare you mentally unfit for ownership, and doing so requires any firearms in the household owned by others to be verified by social workers to be stored in a secure location that cannot be easily broken into. Diagnosis of schizophrenia would be an example where the government deemed you unfit. To try and prevent abuse of this, anyone deemed mentally unfit by the government must have all mental care provided for by the government, and the government must pay for diagnosis by different doctors if asked. If two doctors agree that that person should not be considered a danger the government must lift the restrictions from their license.
the government failed the people of Parkland, "the safest city in Florida". from the FBI who did not follow up on tips about a guy who said he was going to shoot up a school to social services and police that had been warned about the man dozens and dozens of times when the police came to his residence, to having an armed deputy literally stationed at the school to protect the students making 110k a year who hid when the shooting started (he has subsequently retried from the police force). this is a catastrophic failure and resulted in so many lives lost
many want to rush to ban guns, as if that was the issue. on the other side we have equally ridiculous claims like needing to "add" a rating system to movies and video games (thanks trump for talking like hillary clinton about the subject, also, just for the uniformed, there's already rating systems)
so what do we do? i think "doing nothing" is a bad idea, and we can have some movement on trying to stop bad people from having firearms.
First and foremost there needs to be reassessment from all those agencies which miserably failed. heads need to roll over this, many heads, from many agencies. changes need to be implemented so that
1. threats are taken seriously
2. our agencies have the resources available to them to take threats seriously (the manpower)
3. fake threats intentionally made (swatting and the like) that drain our resources and have even caused people's deaths result in the liars receiving worse punishment than if they committed the crimes they were accusing others of doing
at the same time we should look at gun laws.
1. Tax stamps. Raise the tax stamp on title II weapons which includes assault rifles, machine guns, sound suppressors, explosive devices and gadget guns like cane-guns to $2,000 for transferring ownership. An assault rifle is a selective-fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine, by definition. These include AK-47s and M-16s (notably, this does not include AR-15s as they are not capable of selective fire). Machine guns that you can buy currently must have been manufactured before 1986 and also have a $200 tax stamp (current rate is around $18,000 for a M16), in addition to background checks.
2. Machine gun emulators. Any modification to any weapon that increases the rate of fire without positive action on the shooter's part (one pull of trigger, one shot) should be subject to Title II ban.
3. Magazine size. Magazines are limited to 10 with no tax stamp on change of ownership. Magazines 11-20 size have a tax stamp of $20 for each bullet. Magazine sizes beyond that have a tax stamp of $50 for each bullet, so that a magazine of 18 would have a tax of $160, 21 would have a $250 tax and a magazine of 30 would have a $700 tax stamp.
4. Bump stock buyback. Bump stocks, while regulated under Title II for future sales, are retroactively covered and require the tax stamp for continued ownership. A buyback program will give amnesty for a certain amount of time.
4. Punishments for illegal ownership. Illegally possessing firearms result in seizure of all firearms and ammo in entire household regardless of who they are registered to, permanently remove ability for you to posses any Title II weapons and semi automatic weapons and anyone in the same household, along with a ten year ban on all other firearms and heavy fines.
5. National ID. Implement a national identification scheme. This should be done anyway. Your state driver's license will be linked to this national identification. Your social security will be linked to this identification. Your welfare checks will be linked to this identification. Your criminal history will be linked to this identification. Your voter registration will be linked to this identification. Your gun owner registration will be linked to this identification.
6. Firearm Registration. On the left they whine about how people shouldn't need an ID to vote, and on the right they whine that people shouldn't need an ID to own a weapon. Both things should happen, however. You have a right to vote. You have a right to firearms. But both should be associated with a national id card. Both can be taken away if you are convicted of crimes, or other reasonable restrictions determined by the government based on your actions. I will say that I would advocate it for all semi-automatic weapons and above (so your old bolt action hunting rifle? doesn't matter). This would be associated with the ID and checking against the database will see if the person can or can't vote or buy a gun.
7. Background checks. On all sales of firearms, accessories to the firearms, and ammo, including private and bolt action (meaning: even if not registered), you need to verify that the ID from the person you are selling to says it is okay to sell to them.
8. Mental illness. The government can declare you mentally unfit for ownership, and doing so requires any firearms in the household owned by others to be verified by social workers to be stored in a secure location that cannot be easily broken into. Diagnosis of schizophrenia would be an example where the government deemed you unfit. To try and prevent abuse of this, anyone deemed mentally unfit by the government must have all mental care provided for by the government, and the government must pay for diagnosis by different doctors if asked. If two doctors agree that that person should not be considered a danger the government must lift the restrictions from their license.
