|
Some good responses so far, thanks for the thoughtful input. Since I didn't have time to add my own when I created the thread, I'll do so now.
Ownership
1) Every legal US Citizen over the age of 18 can (and should) own firearms with the following exceptions :
A) People diagnosed with any mental disorder,
B) People who have been convicted on any crime where a firearm was present (used in commission of crime or not), would have ownership privilages revoked,
C) Any person who has had a VPO file against them shall have ownership revoked if the courts believe leaving firearms in the persons posession is a threat to the person who filed the VPO. This revokation shall last for the term of the VPO or as long as the people live within 300 miles of each other.
2) There shall exist a national training/safety course that everyone wishing to own a firearm must take. Once the class is completed, they will be issued a gun permit allwoing them to purchase firearms. This license would have to be renewed every 10 years.
3) There would exist a national Concealed Carry Permit. This permit would consist of additional training aside from the standard training/safety permit. This permit would have to be renewed every 5 years.
Failure to comply with the ownership laws or providing an excluded person with a firearm will result in loss of license and forfeiture of firearms with no compensation. If the excluded person commits a crime with a firearm provided by someone else, that person will face the same charges as the person who committed the crime.
Purchasing/Sales
1) When purchasing a firearm, the purchaser must present their training/safty card. It is the responsibility of the seller to conduct a NICS check to make sure the person is still eligable to purchase firearms.
2) If an individual sells a firearm, it is the responsibility of the seller to maintain a record of who they sold the firearm to, when they sold it, a description of the firearm (including serial number) and the license number of the person they sold it to.
- OR -
The seller can have a dealer conduct the transaction for them, in which case the dealer shall be responsible for maintaining the appropriate records and the seller shall be issued a receipt from the dealer.
Failure to follow the Purchasing/Selling Laws will result in loss of license (dealer or individual) and forfiture of firearms with no compensation (Non sole proprieter dealers shall have 5 business days to transfer firearms to another store that has a license).
[b]Types of Firearms[\b]
No restrictions on the types of firearms to be sold would exist
Manufacturers
Manufacturers would be required to submit a balistics test and a spent shell casing to a federally maintained database for every handgun, rifle and/or barrel manufacturerd.
Failure of a manufacturer to submit balistics and spent shell casings would result in revokation of manufacturers license.
That's about it for now. Law enforcement officials would not be immune from the above laws. They would of course get the training/safety course and the concealed permit course along with any other departmental training.
this still leaves the problem of existing firearms already on the market. You could have a registration period, but I don't think that would go over well. And then again, you still have the black market. I suppose existing firearms could end up in the system as they are sold, as long as they aren't sold to an individual.
I think this puts more responsibility in the hands of gun owners. If you sell it, you better know who you are selling it to and get some information from them in case they commit a crime with a gun that was registered to you.
And like Lebell said, Gun Safety for all...even classes for the parents.
|