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25 July 12
Reader Supported News | Perspective
like driving cars. And as a driver, I have no problem registering my
car in each new state I move to, keeping my insurance up-to-date,
having regular required inspections and submitting to a driver's test
to get my driver's license. Driving a big piece of metal and glass
at high speeds should rightly be a big responsibility that folks
should take seriously, that should be regulated to ensure appropriate
safety for everyone on the road. Owning a gun should require a
similar level of responsibility.
As a native Southerner, I like shooting guns. I shot
my first gun at Camp McKee, a Boy Scout camp, when I was 12. One of
my favorite places to go while living in Houston was the Top Gun
shooting range, where it was easy to spend a lot of money on renting
out a shooting gallery, buying several boxes of ammunition, and
shooting the day away with friends. Both cars and guns
are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans every year.
Owning and using either one should require strict regulations.
I once had a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber pistol
that I named Joe, after a friend of mine who served in Korea. I
bought Joe at a gun show in Mississippi, along with several boxes of
ammunition, for approximately $300, which I paid in cash. The gun
merchant asked for my driver's license, made a phone call, and I
walked out with a weapon less than 15 minutes after walking in. I could
have just as easily dreamed up a plan to murder a large group of
people that morning, bought a gun that afternoon, and massacred
dozens by nightfall.
Like any driver, before even getting my driver's
license, I had to take a written test to get a learner's permit. This
meant I could drive a car, but only with a licensed driver in the
car with me. Then, after 6 months of waiting, I could take an actual
driver's test with a police officer in my passenger seat, and only
become a licensed driver if I drove, parallel parked, and did a
turnabout absolutely flawlessly. And if I ever moved to a new state, I
would have to get a new driver's license within 30 days of
relocating, keep my license and registration up-to-date, get yearly
inspections, and have liability insurance for my car. The same should
be done with guns.
Anyone who wants to own a gun should likewise take a
written test on gun safety, proper means of carrying, loading and
unloading, and turning the safety on and off to get a gun owner's
permit, though actually shooting it must be done with a licensed gun
owner. After an appropriate waiting period, gun owners should take an
actual test involving everything from loading and unloading to proper
storage, even shooting proficiency. And each gun should be registered
in each state it travels to, each gun owner should submit to an
annual inspection for their weapon, and each gun purchase should come
with mandatory liability insurance. Also, the assault weapons ban
should be reinstated, because nobody who isn't in the military or on
the police force should ever need an AK-47 or an AR-15, not to hunt
deer or protect their families.
Of course, gun lobbyists would likely argue that such
regulation is an infringement on our 2nd Amendment rights. I would
ask gun lobbyists if their inability to buy an M1A1 Abrams tank is an
infringement on their 2nd Amendment rights. Car crashes and guns are
responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans every year, and
both should be regulated appropriately.
I'm not arguing that nobody should be able to own a
gun. I'm simply arguing that if you want to operate a device that can
take lives with the movement of an index finger, you should be
willing to submit to the same regulations as you would by operating a
device that can take lives with the turn of a steering wheel.
Carl Gibson, 25, is co-founder of US Uncut,
a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of
thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget
cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut. You can contact Carl at
carl@rsnorg.org, and listen to his online radio talk show, Swag The Dog, at blogtalkradio.com/swag-the-dog.
2 comments:
If you want to ban weapons how about banning fast cars. Nobody needs a car that goes 200 mph or cars that go 0-6 in under 5 seconds so we should ban Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Corvette's, Vipers, Shelby Mustangs, Porsche's, Mercedes Benz's, BMW's, Jaugars, Lotus, etc and only sell Yugo's and Pinto's.
You have to register your car because you use it on public property.
I plan on using my guns on my private property so why would they require registration?
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