A Comprehensive Approach to Meaningful Reform of Firearm Regulations in the United States

We often hear the phrase "common sense gun control" tossed about in an effort to stop mass shootings, as well as the epidemic of violent homicides by firearm. It is difficult to reconcile the right to bear arms and the rights of people in this country to not be mowed down in a school or shopping mall.

This plan makes a good bit of sense. It is not perfect. It would need tweaking. It will not stop every lunatic from getting a rifle, pistol, or shotgun; there are simply too many guns already in the country, too many black market channels for weapons, and sometimes just no way to predict who is going to become intent on harming innocent people.  This might reduce the availability of guns to those people who don't have access to existing weapons or to those black market channels. It will not stop any moderately funded and organized terror plot either, but may stop some unorganized lone wolf. It may reduce school shootings, exposure of soft targets, street crime and home invasion homicides, and accidental shootings.

All of the measures here are designed to reduce gun violence in some way. Some of the measures are designed to protect the public at large and aid law enforcement, others are designed to protect the rights of gun owners, and some are a combination of both. Some measures will please one side and enrage the other, some are things both sides should be happy about. But if we are to solve anything, even only slightly, we need to compromise.

Some will say this institutes federal control over gun laws; I say this is a national problem, and it needs a bold national solution.

Here's the plan:

Permits, Background Checks, and Firearm Sales/Purchases

1) Every American citizen who passes the FBI background check at application time must be granted a weapons purchase/carry permit issued by their state. The FBI background check itself must be enhanced to include mental health history as well as juvenile criminal records and records of police interactions. The process to obtain a permit should be easy and inexpensive, because you want to encourage people who want guns to get a permit. Permit records should include a unique permit number, the holder's SSN, a photo, and biometric data (fingerprints, retinal scans, whatever the current tech is.) State permit databases should be linked to a national network. These databases are prohibited from recording data regarding a permit holder's gun purchases, only that the permit was checked for validity. There will be no national gun registry.

2) a) To legally purchase a firearm a person must have a permit and that permit's current status must be checked by the seller against the state database that is linked with the national network. Anyone should be able to access a public web portal to obtain permit status on a purchaser, by entering their name and permit number. (The permit number is required to search, in order to protect the privacy of the permit holder. Your neighbor shouldn't be able to look you up in the database to see if you have a permit.) That permit check is required for sales in stores, at gun shows, or sales by private individuals as well as transfers between family members. This closes the private sale loophole, also known as the gun show loophole. One way to know if you are purchasing from a unscrupulous seller is if they do not check your permit.

b) Permit holders between the ages of 18 and 21 are limited to purchasing or possessing: Bolt-action rifles, single-round or with internal magazines only, in calibers .22 and .308 only; pump or bolt-action shotguns with 5-shot capacity or less, and barrels at least 24" in length. These permit holders may not purchase any other types of firearms. Specifically excluded for purchase are all semi-automatic firearms and any firearm capable of firing ammunition of caliber .223 or 5.56 NATO.

c) Permit holders between the ages of 18 and 21 may carry openly, possess, or transport all types of legal firearms if accompanied by a valid permit holder not less than 35 years of age. Permit holders between the ages of 18 and 21 are not permitted to carry any firearm concealed.

d) At age 21, a permit holder may purchase, possess, carry, and transport any legal firearm, and carry any legal firearm concealed where weapons are allowed.

3) a) Law enforcement should be able to access the permit database to find permit holders by name or SSN. This check should search all state databases at once. Upon investigation or conviction of any violent felony the permit could be suspended or revoked, and weapons seized,  subject to due process and judicial review. Individuals under investigation of violent crimes or suspected of planning terror attacks may have security procedures attached to their permit record, provided a judicial order is acquired; these might include flags activated at a purchase attempt. For example, a flag that permits the sale but notifies the investigating officer in real time without notifying the purchaser or seller, or one that denies the sale and notifies the investigator, etc.

b) The use of Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO) must be instituted. A GVRO is meant to restrict 2nd Amendment rights when there is evidence that the individual may intend to bring harm to himself or others. This could include the individual's writings (electronic or otherwise,) social media postings, oral statements, email and text communications, mental health status, etc.  A GVRO would restrict the rights of the individual to obtain a permit, and would suspend an existing permit so that any weapons owned by permit holder could not be publicly carried during the time the GVRO is in effect. The judge issuing the GVRO would determine the duration of the order and also if the individual's existing weapons should be temporarily seized. The creation of any protective restraining order should automatically include a GVRO, to flag the permit database and trigger necessary actions. Any attempt to purchase a weapon (indicated by a permit check by a seller) should alert the party under protection of the order as well as the court that issued the order. A person under a GVRO, or whose permit is otherwise suspended or revoked (other than those under active investigation) must be permitted to know the court that issued the action, and there must be clearly defined  and simple steps an individual can take to petition the court for reinstatement of 2nd Amendment rights.

c) Parties that could bring an action to a court for issuance of a GVRO would include: law enforcement, health professionals, immediate family members (parents, siblings/step-siblings, children/step-children, spouse/domestic partner,) roommates/boarders. 

4) Upon entering a mental health facility for treatment, the patient's SSN should be checked against the permit database automatically. If the mental health professionals feel it is necessary, they could refer a case to a local court so a judge can decide if issuance of a GVRO is warranted, with input from the provider and the patient's family, and if necessary, law enforcement. (While this may discourage some from seeking mental health help, how else would we propose to know if a mentally unstable person is in possession of a gun?) Additionally, any mental health provider or therapist, if he or she believes their patient may be a threat to themselves or others, should be obligated to notify their local law enforcement or municipal court about the danger, thereby triggering a GVRO hearing.

Penalties for Firearm Violations

5) a) Carrying or possessing a gun outside your home or private property without a permit will result in stiff fines, community service, and possible jail time. Beginning five years from the date of passage of this permit requirement, jail time for this offense becomes required.

b) Leaving an unlocked firearm off your person where a child or any individual who does not possess a valid permit may have access to it is illegal, with a progressing scale of severity for repeat offenses.

c) Selling a firearm without verifying the validity of the buyer's permit is a felony, as is buying a firearm without a valid permit. Both crimes would result in stiff fines and required jail time.

d) Conviction of any violent felony or burglary while in possession of a firearm should include a sentencing enhancement to a minimum 10 year sentence in state prison, with no early release. Other consequences of committing a felony with a firearm should include loss of voting rights, loss of firearm rights, and random searches of one's residence and vehicle - FOR 20 YEARS TO LIFE. This needs to be enforced nationwide. It needs to be plainly clear to everyone that possessing  or using a gun while committing a crime will incur stiff penalties that could follow you for the rest of your life.

Weapons Carrying, Security, Protections for Firearm Owners, Education

6) a) To legally carry or transport a firearm outside the home, whether for hunting, recreational use, or personal defense, concealed or carried openly, a person must have a carry permit. Children under 18 may carry unconcealed firearms for hunting or recreational use if accompanied by a parent, grandparent, or guardian who possesses a  valid carry permit. (This provision does not apply to non-operational firearms and antique firearms manufactured prior to 1835.)

b) Citizens with permits must be allowed to carry anywhere in public where weapons are not explicitly prohibited. Obviously secured areas of airports, government buildings, major sporting events and the like would be off limits; soft targets should not be off limits, as these are places where people gather every day and are attractive targets now because a shooter knows he will meet little resistance. Knowing that he is likely to encounter armed resistance from everyday citizens should help deter some of these mass shootings.

c) When stopped by law enforcement for any reason, an armed permit holder must immediately* notify the officer that he or she is carrying a weapon, inform the officer of the weapon's location, and when requested, produce the carry permit and valid identification. This would apply to all individuals in a vehicle, not only the driver. Merely being an armed or unarmed permit holder is not sufficient probable cause or reasonable suspicion as to allow a warrantless search of a vehicle, person, or residence, unless the armed permit holder fails to immediately* notify the law enforcement officer of their status. (*"Immediately" means, with regards to a traffic stop, at the time the officer either approaches the vehicle window to speak to the driver or passengers, or if the officer does not approach, then at the time the officer orders the vehicle occupants out of the vehicle.  With regards to pedestrian stops, "immediately" would mean as soon as the officer makes verbal indication of the stop.)

7) All active duty military personnel should carry side arms at all times while on domestic bases or at recruiting centers and permitted to carry off base as well within states, territories, and possessions of the U.S. There is no reason our soldiers should be defenseless.

8) We use armed personnel to protect our politicians, court rooms, banks, sports arenas, and our money; we should do the same to protect our children. All public schools should be required to enact upgraded access controls with limited ingress points. Those ingress points should be staffed with highly trained and well armed security. If approved by the local school board, other staff at public schools may be permitted to be armed with concealed weapons.  This may include teachers, administrators, support staff, or security staff, who have taken and passed rigorous training on firearm handling, safety, and protective security. (This training would be refreshed at prescribed intervals.) And once that is done, every school should have signs that say "Warning: School staff is armed and trained to protect our children."

9) Enact legal protections in every state for firearm owners who use their weapons in defense of themselves and their property, as well as in defense of other innocent people. Every person should have the right to protect themselves, their family, their home and property, without fear of prosecution or civil lawsuit. It should be clear to criminals that entering someone's home illegally or intending harm to innocents may result in an instant death sentence.

10) We teach our children to swim so they will not drown, to not touch a hot stove so they will not get burned; we owe it to our children to teach them what to do if they find a firearm. Most accidental shootings by children are caused by lack of knowledge about firearms and a lack of proper respect for the power of guns. There are countless tragic stories. Kids find a weapon, don't think it's loaded or think it's a toy, and bang. They pop out the magazine to "unload" it, and don't know there's a chambered round, and again, bang. Kids don't have proper respect for a weapon, handle it when they know they shouldn't, and handle it improperly... Bang. We must institute mandatory age-specific firearm safety training for public school children, from pre-k through high school, every year, to help reduce accidental shootings involving children. Children should be able to distinguish real firearms from toys from an early age and know what to do if they find any gun that is not clearly a toy.  Children should be given demonstrations of the power of even the smallest guns. Older children should know enough about guns to never even consider handling one without adult supervision.  Perhaps the NRA and other gun-rights advocacy groups and gun manufacturers would be willing to sponsor this education to defray cost to taxpayers.

There is no solution that will end firearm homicides and mass shootings entirely. However, if the measures outlined above can make even a small dent in the number, save some of the many lives senselessly ended every year, it is worth it. We have to try.