The time to discuss gun control is now. Those who say it’s too soon are naysayers intent on preventing any restriction on guns, as evidenced repeatedly over recent years. While one can debate the meaning of the Second Amendment — whether it broadly protects individual gun rights or the states’ rights for a militia (today’s National Guard) — Supreme Court decisions have largely supported individual rights.
However, this has not been without exceptions, such as the prohibition against automatic weapons, the ban on carrying guns onto government property, or the requirement to have a permit for concealed weapons.
What makes sensible gun control?
Here is a six-point proposal that both protects the right of ownership and imposes reasonable requirements that are not unduly burdensome:
1. Require all gun owners to be licensed. Set a 3-year deadline to comply after passage of legislation. Require gun buyers to pass a background check, as they must do today. Include an exemption for authorized active National Guard members and active and retired law enforcement officers. Convicted felons would be ineligible to own or possess any firearm. A felon’s right to bear arms, however, could be restored by a court not sooner than five years after conviction. Failure to comply with the licensing mandate would invoke a $5,000 civil penalty. Repeated failure to comply would be a felony, punishable with a $10,000 fine and/or 1-year incarceration.
2. Require all guns to be registered. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) would maintain a national register of firearm descriptions and serial numbers. The deadline to comply similarly would be three years after passage of legislation. Possession of a firearm lacking a serial number would be a felony, punishable with a $10,000 fine and/or 1-year incarceration. Use of an unregistered gun in the commission of a crime would be separately punishable with up to five years incarceration.
3. Ban the possession or sale of (a) All automatic weapons; (b) Guns greater than 50 caliber; (c) Kits to convert guns to be or approximate automatic weapons; (d) Gun magazines with more than eight bullets; (e) Armor-piercing and hollow-tip bullets; and (f) Silencers. Possession of any of these items three years after passage of legislation would be a felony, punishable with up to a $10,000 fine and/or 1-year incarceration.
4. Establish a buy-back program. Via local law enforcement, establish a federally funded buy-back program wherein any weapon or associated device can be turned in for a set price with no questions asked and no arrest. This program would expire three years after passage of legislation.
5. Concealed weapons. Carrying a concealed weapon without a permit would be a felony punishable with a $10,000 fine and/or 1-year incarceration. States would be allowed to ban the carrying of weapons, whether concealed or not, in specific locations (e.g., government buildings and near schools) or under certain circumstances (e.g., public events).
6. Require all new gun owners to complete satisfactorily a gun safety course, including a written exam, which could be retaken, and demonstrated ability to handle a gun on a range to a professional certified instructor.
The argument that gun restrictions will not protect citizens from criminals is valid in the short term. It took decades to impose restrictions on the tobacco companies that had knowingly poisoned millions of smokers. Likewise it will take a generation or more to reverse the unrestricted gun culture of today. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that on average 93 Americans die from guns each day. This is a toll not tolerated in any other civilized country. Why is it tolerated by our lawmakers?
Ala Wai resident Peter C. Oleson is a former assistant director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and senior intelligence policy adviser to two secretaries of defense. He edited the 2016 “Guide to the Study of Intelligence,” with a foreword by Robert Gates, former CIA director and defense secretary.
