Even as more mass shootings filled the news this week, Congress continues to try to find some way forward to address this ongoing crisis. At the time of this post, negotiations focus on hardening schools, red flag laws, and possibly raising the age from 18 to 21 to purchase semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 assault rifle. While these negotiations are presented as progress in helping to reduce the number of mass shootings, what is conspicuously absent is any expectation to ban the weapons and magazines that caused such carnage in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Tulsa. The fact that limiting or banning such weapons is completely off the table exemplifies the persistent propaganda that has surrounded efforts at gun reform for decades. The 2nd Amendment has become sacrosanct to the point that any limitations are rejected regardless of ongoing evidence that the weapons themselves play a major part in the scale of death and destruction. Such weapons serve no other purpose than to kill people. Owning an assault rifle for “self-defense” Is largely hypothetical especially compared to the actual deaths of children and adults murdered when an AR-15 is used in a mass shooting. An individual’s right to enjoy the feeling of using an assault rifle for target practice pales in comparison to the lifelong anguish of families and friends of those killed or wounded.
Michael Fanone is a former Capitol Police officer who was severely beaten by the mob at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He recently wrote an opinion piece emphasizing that there is no need for civilians to own military style weapons such as the AR-15. Realizing it is unlikely that these weapons will be banned in the current political climate, he offered another option for those wanting to own an assault rifle:
If banning them outright seems like too extreme a solution to be politically palatable, here’s another option: Reclassify semi-automatic rifles as Class 3 firearms.
That would mean that someone wanting to purchase an AR-15 would have to go through a background check, fingerprinting and review by an official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – a process that takes anywhere from 12 to 16 months. And since Class 3 weapons can’t be purchased by anyone younger than 21, it would solve the issue of emotionally unstable 18-year-olds buying them.
A Class 3 firearm reclassification would also make those who are approved to purchase these weapons subject to an annual check that they are complying with federal regulations regarding secure storage of the firearm, and to confirm their licensing and other paperwork is up to date. All of these hoops and hurdles are sure to reduce the civilian demand for these weapons.
This proposal would allow for the continued sale and ownership of these weapons that seems so sacred to some. Yet it would require a level of responsibility that would certainly reduce the casual purchase and horrific use of these weapons in mass shootings. I believe this would represent real progress. But would it stand up to the propaganda that constantly prioritizes guns over people by refusing any reform that limits easy access to these weapons of mass murder? Here is a link to the whole article. It is well worth your time to read and to reflect on supporting gun reform that actually deals with guns.