Guns are here to stay so we better learn to use them correctly.
In an ideal world there would be no guns. But we don't live in an ideal world. Guns are enshrined in the Constitution and American culture so they are going to be here and we have to deal with that. I'm not a gun owner myself but if I lived in Oakland I probably would be. There are circumstances where guns, if used correctly, reduce violence.
I have two ideas however that could significantly reduce gun deaths. The first is requiring gun owners to be licensed. In order to get licensed you have to pass a background check and attend a gun training and safety school. The course should be at least a whole day, maybe two days with one day of shooting and one day in the classroom. The shooting day will involve the firing of several guns as well as how to carry a gun, loading guns, unloading guns, storing guns. It will teach students about different kinds of guns, ammunition, and which guns are best for your needs. The right gun for the right situation.
Classroom time will go into detail about how to use a gun for various purposes. How to defend yourself from an intruder. How to keep the gun out of the hands of your children. How to keep your gun out of the hands of crazy people. How to decide when to shoot and when not to shoot.
There could also be different classes of licenses so that if you want an assault weapons license you can get that with additional training. Just like you can't drive a truck without a commercial drivers license if you want a big gun then you get a big gun license. Having such a license would also satisfy those with big egos, and the extra training and screening would make it much safer.
These classes can be put on by the NRA or gun clubs by people who would be professional gun trainers. Once you completed the course you can get a gun permit and go buy whatever guns you want. The permit will have a mag strip or a chip in it that a gun dealer can swipe like a credit card to do an instant check. An with smart phones the same check can be performed at gun shows as well.
The Second Amendment starts with the phrase "A well regulated militia". In my mind in any well regulated militia the first step would be gun training. Seem to me one could argue it's a constitutional requirement.
Guns need to be safer to use.
My second idea is to raise safety standards on guns. For example - if you take the clip out you should bot be able to fire a bullet that is still in the chamber. Higher requirement that prevent accidental discharge.
New guns can also be equipped with built in biometric computers so that the gun knows who is holding it and the gun will only fire in an authorized hand. So if a child gets hold of the gun or an intruder gets your gun it won't fire. The idea is to help make sure that the gun kills the bad guy an not the good guy.
In theory both side should at least consider these ideas to be a reasonable start on improving the gun situation. I think that if we start with the premise that we can reduce gun deaths that we can find some common ground to make real change.
