Guns: Rights, Risks, Controls, Consequences

Guns are a major topic and source of controversy in America. Whether the intensity and extremes of the controversy has been amplified by or even created by the Political Parties is simply one more facet of the issues around guns. Guns are one of the most polarizing issues, if not the most, that even creates some groups that are essentially one-issue voters who are positionally align with the left or the right (and maybe some other location on the spectrum), that provide a political funding source, and that are a reliable media topic whenever there is a gun-related incident like the Orlando, FL nightclub; the San Bernardino, CA government office; the Sandy Hook, CN elementary school; the Virginia Tech, VA campus; and the many other locations/incidents of mass shootings. After each event there is an outcry for Congress and the state legislatures to take some action, but little to nothing results from these demands since the political sides are entrenched and resolved to hold fast to their singular view. There is no discussion, there is just politicians stating why they are right and the other side is wrong.

For such a highly charged and evocative social issue, it also seems to be a remarkably under-discussed and an almost unexamined topic between the two Parties, and I would predict it will not be a “well debated” issue between the two ‘presumptive’ Presidential candidates. Given how much attention and time is spent by politicians, the political Parties, the media, the NRA, numerous other pro-/anti-/control of gun groups, and the public at large this would seem an impossible self-contradiction. But while there is a great deal of time consumed on the issue there is little to no actual reasoned or rational discussion and particularly no debating of the issue.

Perhaps one contributing factor for the gun issue being a highly divisive and politically unresolvable issue is that the issue is not often, if ever, even clearly defined with regards to what the underlying differences and disagreements are. Just because guns are seen as a political or social issue doesn’t mean that politicians, Parties or advocacy groups have looked at the issue(s) from a rational perspective; in fact, it seems that this issue is more driven by emotional factors than logical and cognitive views. If one were a scientist, engineer, technologist, mathematician, system analyst, or anyone engaged in solving a problem (issue) in their business or job then understanding the dimensions of a problem and determining the facts relevant to the problem would be fundamental to trying to assess and resolve the problem. This is not how the gun issue is or has been dealt with. The ‘solution’ is almost universally known a priori, but the ‘known solution’ is dependent upon your established position not by asking what addresses the requirements of the problem.

So let’s try and look at the ‘guns’ issue, but let’s do it as if it were a problem that you were seeking a sound, reasoned, and intelligent solution to and not simply seeking a solution that fits your pre-determined answer. As we start, we should acknowledge that this is a task that politicians and political Parties are not competent in performing or, if they are, they have spectacularly failed to do or attempt to do so. Given this basic lacking of any problem-solving skill-set, it is strange that the public looks to their Parties and politicians to solve this and any of their other problems.

The first step is to define the ‘gun’ problem, as it is hoped that understanding the problem might be useful in finding a solution to the problem. Many of you might relate to this in terms of answering the question: “What’s your first move?” in that it likely causes you to ask or wonder “What game are we playing?” So what is the ‘gun’ problem?

On the pro-gun side, the following seem to be the essential areas of concern or requirements to a solution.

•      Goal: Protect citizen’s right to own a gun.  The ownership right supports the ability of a citizen to protect themselves and their families which is a justification for the need to own a gun.
•       Requirement: The right to own a gun(s) is guaranteed under the Second Amendment, and is not to be ‘infringed’ upon by the government passing laws to that affect.
•          Concern: Any gun control law or regulation is an attempt to prevent individuals from obtaining a gun and thus violate their right.
•          Concern: The collection of information about gun ownership is an attempt by the government to be able to seize private citizens’ guns, which if it occurred thus violating their right.
•          Concern: Efforts to control guns are misguided and counter-productive. Preventing citizens from obtaining or carrying guns places law-abiding citizens at risk from criminals who will not adhere to any gun regulation or law.
•          Sub-issues: Open carry and concealed carry restrictions are an illegal infringement upon citizens’ rights.

On an anti-gun side, the following seem to be the essential areas of concern or requirements to a solution.

•          Goal: Reduce the threat to the public presented from unrestricted access to guns.
•          Requirement: There is generally a broader range of views on the anti-gun side regarding ownership. The anit-gun goal is varied and extends from reducing the types of guns that can be owned, to restricting where guns can be owned, or to even a complete prohibition on guns. Different solutions would thus vary on the degree to which they accommodate a particular spectrum of an anti-gun proponent.
•          Sub-issue: Ban of hand-guns. This goal is focused specifically on hand-guns, which are seen as the weapon used in the vast majority of shootings. This is a variant of the ‘type of’ anti-gun group.
•          Sub-issue: Ban on assault-weapons. This goal is focused specifically on guns that are fundamentally designed to shoot a large number of rounds. The semi-automatic / automatic types of guns and of magazines are all facets of this issue.
•          Sub-issue: Locations / jurisdictions that ban guns. This goal is focused on banning guns from specified areas or jurisdictions. This goal would have to reflect either a public policy decision related directly to the residents of a ‘banned’ area, or would have to be based on some defined criteria that an area met which was legislatively identified as the justifying rationale.
•          Sub-issue:  Open-carry and/or concealed-carry restrictions are essentially the counter-position of those opposed to the proponents of open-carry or concealed-carry.
•         Sub-issue: Prohibition on purchasing a gun if purchaser is on a ‘restriction’ list. [Restriction category will need to be defined:  Terror watch list, no-fly, FBI active investigation list, …  .]

Not surprisingly, the pro-gun and anti-gun advocates position themselves as have been basically at non-negotiable odds with each other; since any restriction is seen as a violation of ownership rights and conversely no restriction/ban is seen as a disregard for public safety and national security.

Now if you thought the anti-gun side was the only other side, you’re just thinking in a binary world view. There is no ‘law of physics’ requirement that there are only two philosophical positions on guns. There are in fact many distinct positions that vary from each other. The pro-gun position was presented as an aggregate of positions that hold what are considered the ‘major’ themes; however, there are pro-gun proponents that support some elements of legal restrictions applied to gun ownership. The anti-gun side is its own aggregate view that isn’t a one-size fits all position, and there is another perspective that is focused on gun-violence control versus an anti-gun philosophy that is a distinct perspective that isn’t required to be aligned with or in opposition to the other two common orientations.

The gun-violence control side is focused on a dimension of guns that is quite different from the pro- or anti- gun positions. There is no absolute requirement from this group’s goals that would deny citizens their 2^nd Amendment right to own a gun. Thus resolving the gun issue from this perspective doesn’t require or result in a conflict over ownership rights versus public safety and national security.

On a gun-violence control side, the following seem to be the essential areas of concern or requirements to a solution.

• Goal: Reduce the incidents and number of deaths that are gun-related.
• Requirement: Accept and protect gun ownership rights in concert with providing adequate, effective and efficient mechanisms and processes to reduce gun deaths and other gun-related criminal activities.
• Sub-issue: Require back-ground checks for all gun purchases.
• Sub-issue: Waiting period for:  any gun, or hand gun, or a designated type of weapon.
• Sub-issue: Establish gun registry requirement.
• Sub-issue: Eliminate restrictions on law enforcement entities from sharing gun data/information.

Taking these three sides and the differing objectives, the problem might reasonable be summarized as:

1.           Gun ownership rights must be accommodated and protected.
2.           Limits on guns must be allowed.
3.        Reductions in gun deaths, crimes and security risks must be accounted for in any policy.

Solutions that can address these objectives are evidently perceived as non-existent since the ‘gun issue’ persists and persists without any evident or notable progress toward a resolution. A major obstacle is a perception that the gun ownership right is threatened by any law about guns other than ones that make access easier; however, this is not an historically accurate perception. It’s not that there aren’t adequate legal means to both preserve and protect the 2^nd Amendment right, and there are solutions that can overcome one of the deep-seated fears by some that the government will attempt to seize private individual’s guns under some nefarious attempt to overturn our democratic government.  So one question is how much of the resistance to laws directed at meeting other goals for guns would diminish or disappear, if the ‘right to own’ were further protected by legislation that defines the penalties that are required by law if Congress and/or the Administration were to attempt to undertake any seizure of guns not authorized jointly by a federal and state court or related to an imminent threat* of the owner to the public (* - a power that exists under current law and doesn’t violate the ownership right). The legislative language would be diligently reviewed by the pro-gun advocacy groups like the NRA so that gun rights are adequately insured.

By providing well-defined and clearly acknowledged ownership right ‘protection’ requirements, the fear of “The Government” taking everyone’s guns is rendered illegal. While there will be some who will insist that “The Government” could still attempt to seize all private weapons, the action itself would require that the US military would support it. For the military to do that would mean that our sons and daughters that serve in the armed forces would permit and participate in violating not just the 2^nd Amendment right but our basic American values.

If the ownership right aspect of the gun issue can be reasonable accommodated and protected, then some of the other concerns and issues can be examined as separate and solvable pieces of the problem.

The issue of ‘banning’ can be explored. Today there are already weapons that are banned, so this is not an all-or-none issues but rather determining what the categories of weapons are that are banned. What is at issue isn’t banning or not banning but where the line is drawn. So a decision must be made and if the current circumstances indicate that the previous decision may be questionable then it can be revisited. We have seen these decisions reexamined before, so it is not a threat to ownership but a responsibility of our elected officials to determine in the light of our own times. Additionally, even the term ‘banned’ needs to be clearly defined. Some weapons could be (and currently are) banned completely, some would be limited to specific conditions and banned outside that domain, and some others may have constraints that are defined under the legislation; with remaining weapons listed as unlimited by its designated and documented classification.

Each area of contention can be examined for how it can be resolved with an approach that protects ownership rights, and provides for public safety and national security, and that reduces the level of gun-related deaths and crime. Background checks, waiting-periods, sales and distribution reporting, and even registration processes can be established that are purposefully designed to insure that private citizens’ rights are protected.  The problem is that politicians are not likely to be able (competent) to solve these issues, which is why they haven’t been able to solve these problems. Now just because those who the public turns to are not equipped to handle the task doesn’t mean that there aren’t those who can.

The gun problems are there. If you think Congress or your state legislature has solved them then you are ok with the status quo. If you are not happy with the status quo then you need to ask Congress or your state legislature not to solve the problems but to seek people who are competent to provide them with public policy approaches that do, and to then enact appropriate legislation to accomplish the multiple goals that the multiple dimensions of the issues require.