Since last night, I have slept on this issue and woken up a little more clear-minded. Ok, I'm still pissed off and have less than zero faith in our government to do anything useful in the wake of one (preventable) mass tragedy after another, but I think I'm okay enough to talk more on the issue of politics. More specifically, guns and law enforcement.
It's undeniable that AR-style weapons are the guns of choice for most of these crazed mass-shooters. While it's true that ARs are semi-automatic and easy to shoot, so are many, many non-AR style guns. 9MM handguns are oftentimes more accurate, easier to shoot, and easier to conceal than AR-style rifles. What I really think draws these psychos to ARs is the fact that ARs look "cooler" than other guns. It really has very little to do with how an AR operates, vs how "cool" and "tactical" ARs look.
But, with that said, I would be absolutely stunned if any sort of legislation is passed that bans AR-style rifles, considering how popular they are among the general population. Last I checked, twenty-million AR-15s have been sold to American citizens. Just AR-15s. That doesn't take into account the many other AR-style rifles that aren't just AR-15s that have been sold in the USA. Plus, each time a mass shooting like this occurs, gun sales, especially for "assault" weapons, skyrocket. And, the market doesn't calm down until the issue of banning AR-style weapons is dropped.
Personally, I'm not opposed to banning AR-style weapons. While many hunters prefer them over hunting-style rifles, I don't. I prefer my Ruger .243 bolt-action over an AR-style rifle of the same caliber. My Ruger's more accurate and easy for me to shoot than any AR I've shot. But, I don't think focusing our attention on banning AR-style weapons is a very productive thing to do, considering just how popular AR's are, and how overly-protective people are of them. Personally, I wish we could ban AR's, or at the very least, require AR buyers and owners to obtain a special firearm license to possess them, but in our current political climate, I don't see that happening anytime soon. Even with tremendous public support.
Instead, we should set our focus on doing things that even the most AR-loving gun owners can get behind, such as Universal Background Checks that cover one's mental health, and Gun Safety requirements such as having an adequate gun safe and/or chamber lock. From there, we can start to discuss more drastic and controversial measures to protect people and their gun rights.
Another one of those "controversial" measures is requiring prospective gun owners to obtain a gun-safety license and/or hunter's safety license before being able to legally possess a firearm of any kind. Hunting, in most states, is a constitutionally protected right, as is fishing. Free speech is also a constitutionally protected right. Yet, for all three of these things (and many, many others), you are required to obtain licenses and permits to legally exercise your right to hunt, fish, and protest on public property. Why is it suddenly an infringement to require first-time gun owners to take a basic safety course before being legally allowed to obtain and operate a firearm?
Well, it isn't. Plain and simple.
Nothing in the constitution is obsolete. One can't shout, "Fire!" in a crowded building if there is none, despite having the right to free speech. Why? Because it could easily cause an unnecessary and deadly stampede. You can't recreate outdoors on public land without obtaining the necessary permits to do so, despite the fact that public land access is a protected right. There are also rules of conduct when it comes to protesting or recreating on public land. There are also rules when it comes to using firearms, but many gun owners are unaware of these rules because they never get any proper firearm safety education. Hell, in the 1980s, Raegan banned the possession of fully-automatic weapons for citizens without a class 3 firearms license. Even the second amendment, as it is often interpreted by SCOTUS, doesn't guarantee one's right to own any kind of weapon they want.
With that said, given how weak and spineless half of our government is (and how unhinged and batshit crazy the other half seems to be), I doubt even the tiniest, most basic mental health or gun law will make it through, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans want accessible healthcare for all and Universal Background Checks for guns. Why? Well, our government is fundamentally broken. I don't have all (or really any) of the answers as to how to fix our broken government and country, beyond voting and contacting our representatives. Our country has never been so divided. At least, not since the 1850s.
