How to Create Gun Legislation That Sticks (Guns Vs Gun Control Part VII)

“And what makes you such an expert?” Glasses asks.

Nothing. I’m not an expert. This is just an opinion piece by someone who cares about the topic and sees serious lack of truth in the “mainstream” conversation.

“So why should anyone care about your opinion?” He presses further.

You should listen to me, because you should listen to as many voices as you can. I am just one voice in a sea of voices. Listening to multiple voices helps expand our own understanding. That’s often how we come to truth. People tell me my thoughts are wise and well considered. As such, I feel it’s important to add my thoughts to the mix where I can. I hope people will listen to each other (not just me). It’s the only way to come to workable solutions.

Wisdom comes not just from what others say, but also how we hear it. We should listen to our elders, peers, and the innocent because all voices have value, even when we can’t understand them.

Our current systems are pretty effective. If you really look at the numbers, these killing machines aren’t doing a very good job of murdering people. Can we polish things? Sure, and we should. But that means having intelligent conversations and understanding some of the facts. The same can be said about every facet of life.

There are approximately 10 people per hundred thousand who die from firearms each year. Does that mean we get rid of all guns?

There are approximately 11 people per hundred thousand who die in car accidents every year. Do we ban cars?

There are approximately 135 loggers per hundred thousand who die on the job each year. Do we stop logging?

All of these serve an important purpose in our society. Doing away with firearms, vehicles, or logging without making up for what they provide is a huge mistake.

Until we have better options, I want guns like I want speech. Free.

Then how do we create legislation that will work?

That’s a good question. We can’t the way things are going. My solution is more about changing the way our society as a whole sees this problem. It assumes you want to make positive changes and not just oppress those who disagree. Legislation will never find fair and truthful footing without the right perspective going into it. Maybe it’s a hopeless wish that will never happen, but to steal a quote: “you can’t fix a problem with the same thinking that created the problem in the first place.”

I put more of the burden of listening on the gun control side. I do this, because that’s the side trying to make the changes. To make change, we must be adaptable and understand what we are trying to change. If you don’t understand clearly understand a problem, why would you want to make a change? Especially when bad decisions here will cost lives.

Gun control proponents can try and understand gun owners; or, those in favor of gun control can remain ignorant, start confiscating guns and start a civil war. No, that’s not a joke. Gun activists will never listen further than they already are, if the rest of us don’t respect their needs.

First we need to take a step back and conquer fear. Yes, it’s reasonable to have fear. We’re all upset about innocent people being killed. As I spoke of in the article on fear, we need to honor that. At the same time, coming at the issue emotional and fearful doesn’t help. I don’t remember the original source, but a study I read talked about decisions made in fear. The conclusion was essentially that any decision made in fear is a bad one. Much like meditation, or counting to ten when you’re angry, taking a moment to cool off and be reasonable is critical to making a good decision. More so when making a life altering decision, such as enacting legislation. This is truly a subject that deserves our full attention and faculties, is it not?

Open communication and empathy about guns are a must.

We need to talk openly about the realities of firearms. Open communication means respect and honesty. When you have a conversation with someone about guns remember they’re intelligent, thoughtful, and most importantly, concerned about their own beliefs. Their desire is also the same as yours. Gun control supporters want to be safe and protect those we care about. Gun owners want to be safe and protect those we care about. The motivation is the same.

To get past the differences we need to respect each other and do our best to understand what others are thinking. Bring the focus off refuting ideas. Instead empathize with the person. If we support each others desires to be safe we can find common ground.

These first two steps are critical.

Anyone making laws about firearms needs to understand what they’re deciding on. This includes voters.

“Right,” Glasses says. “So only gun owners get to vote for gun control.”

I’m not saying that at all.

Vehicles kill on par with guns per year despite there being less of them in the US. The injury rate is exponentially higher. Does that mean we start banning the big scary looking trucks? Obviously not. We need to learn more about what the problems are and how to fix them before passing laws. We’ve done this for vehicles to a great degree of success and we can always do better. That’s how we need to approach guns.

We can’t just listen to politicians pushing a bill. If we’re going to vote on a ban for “semi-automatic” weapons, voters thinking they’re guns that fire endlessly if you hold down the trigger is unacceptable. No gun owner is going to take a law seriously if it stems from ignorance. Push laws like that through and it will lead to bloodshed. Period. If you really want gun control, go shooting at a local range. Get some exposure, in context, to guns and gun owners. Walk into a gun range and tell the proprietor, “I support gun control and I want to learn more about guns.” You’ll earn instant respect.

It doesn’t mean you have to like or own guns. It doesn’t mean you have to change your mind. I’m saying when we pass legislation, we need to at least understand enough to make wise decisions.

Education has been shown to be one of the greatest ways to prevent negative consequences. This is why there are numerous “buckle-up” campaigns and ads to caution drinking and driving. Sometimes we don’t clearly understand the consequences of our actions. These programs seek to remedy that. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

Firearm safety classes have helped many people to treat firearms with proper respect. Understanding how dangerous they can be is just a part of understanding how to make them safer. Instruction on proper care when handling, cleaning, and shooting firearms is critical to being safe. No gun owner I’ve ever met would let a person handle a gun without proper training first. Unfortunately, some gun owners aren’t so careful or intelligent. How do we get through to them?

I suggest anytime we buy a firearm, a safety class is required. Some will feel it’s a waste of time, but few would reject making sure other gun owners can handle their weapon. It won’t fix every issue, but it will prevent more accidents.

For now. We already have some very hefty restrictions on firearms. If you do the first three steps you’ll learn that. Guns are not without massive restrictions, background checks, and steps to keep the most dangerous people from getting the most dangerous weapons. We do need to fix issues with our police force and properly organizing militias would be a great way to support our people on a local level. Those ideas are kind of a separate topic though. If we can get on the same level of education about firearms, the rest will start to work out. Intelligent debate coming from the people who are currently only screaming in fear will go a long way. After that, it’s a matter of figuring out what will actually work instead of running headlong into fearful legislation.

I'd love to hear what you have to say. Do you think I'm doing an injustice to the pro gun control side? Do you think I'm crazy in thinking we can even reach an agreement?

Thanks for making it this far.