Hey, it's DZ. I just wanted to enter the discussion because I have quite a strong and... I like to think unfortunately quite unique perspective on the issue. I am a gun enthusiast who does not currently own any guns, a supporter of the right to bear arms and a supporter of limited restriction gun control.
I agree on several of your stances, but I disagree on your main perspective of the problem. In my opinion, the bulk of the problem in school shootings lies on the shoulders of the parents. Children should not be put or left in a position where they can potentially be lethal. They should not have direct access to any sort of weapons at all, especially if they are in any way depressed, bullied, bullying, reclusive, or show other signs of having potential for any kind of violent or vindictive outburst. This is not the responsibility of the government, this is the responsibility of the parents.
In response to the first argument: Gun safes are a great solution for domestic issues like theft by children or domestic homicide. They are not fool-proof but they definitely keep inept children out and provide time for victims to get away in cases of domestic abuse. They do, however, have a massive down-side.
Why do people keep guns out of safes and in open, conveniently available locations? The same reason a lot of people own guns in the first place: home defense. If someone has invaded your home, fiddling with a safe code delays response time for self-defense that could potentially cost the homeowner or members of their family their lives. My best friend sleeps with a loaded shotgun next to his bed. He says if he had children, he would never even consider doing so. It's a damn shame that there are so many parents out there that are so inept (I remember a case where the 5 or 6 year old son of a cop shot himself because the officer left his loaded gun on a table), but that responsibility lies on the parents. There is no reason why responsible gun owners and collectors should be required by law to put their weapons in Fort Knox. Applying a clause where if you are a parent, the gun vendor must be required to inform the owner of the benefits of a gun safe or even require them to buy one when purchasing a concealable weapon would be less severe, but still kinda pushing it.
In response to the second argument: Background checks on guns, as far as I know and feel free to correct me, are required nationwide unless the gun is provided by a private seller (i.e. gun shows, etc): in these cases it depends on state laws and state background checks are still required in CA, OR, CO, IL, NY, MA, RI, CT and NJ; handgun sale checks required in MI, PA, MD and NC. While this isn't full coverage by a long-shot, it's still pretty damn good and from what I have heard from friends that have attended gun shows, they will not sell to just anyone.
There is a clause in background checks that states that sale is prohibited to anyone who "has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution". Re-exploring the definition of "mentally defective" is something I support fully, the state of the mental health system in this country is abysmal but it is starting to improve. We have learned a lot about mental illness even in the last decade. The problems with a lot of destructive mental illnesses that I see are these: not many psychological disorders are visibly noticeable (making training police or gun salesmen near impossible) and the offender may never seek help and would subsequently never be officially diagnosed on public record. I may be mistaken, but I think background checks look for a claim for disability or flags on open medical records, mental health care with specialists is kept confidential and should absolutely stay that way. Obama has been working on tightening mental health restrictions on background checks this year, so it is a work in progress but it is definitely a difficult issue to respect privacy while preserving safety.
In response to the third argument: Illegal guns will always be a problem. The definition of an illegal gun is not necessarily a gun that is smuggled over a border, it's a gun that is either unregistered, falsely registered or has a false, unidentifiable, missing or mismatched serial numbers. These guns are not necessarily imported, I have no source to back me up on this but my best bet is that the majority of these illegal guns are domestically distributed and purchased. Borders are extremely high security as it is and all sorts of stuff gets through, and always will. As long as there is money in it, criminal organizations will always find a way to bypass the system. Cracking down on illegal gun sales is eerily similar to cracking down on illegal drug sales, it's one of those things that skirts the line between police vigilance and all-out 'Big Brother' police-state surveillance (which isn't technologically possible at this point in time). Gun dealers should absolutely be required to prove where they get their stock (if they don't already, pretty sure they do), and I strongly doubt any shop owner would stake his livelihood on selling guns with scratched/false serials, I guarantee the ATF keeps a much keener eye on the vendors than on everyday consumers.
I agree wholeheartedly that if you own a deadly weapon, you should be held 100% accountable for any actions involved with it unless it is stolen from you. The only exception to this is if it is stolen by your child, who is 100% your responsibility. Enough people have suffered from shitty parents and inept gun owners, millions more should not have to jump through 100 more hoops just because they want to keep their home secure, have a hobby or go hunting. Gun safes are available, gun safety training is offered in many places including by the NRA, but it's up to individuals to be smart, knowledgeable and responsible.
On a final note, (as I have ranted for a long time, lol) something that should be noted in this issue is media exposure. Events like school shootings are not new occurrences, they have been happening since the dawn of man. School shootings are not a new thing by any means, the open information availability and blatant news exploitation of parading statistics for shock value is not only disgusting but a very recent thing. With the internet, we have access to every statistic known to man, we can survey the world at all times, we are more aware. Simply because we didn't know about how many shootings were going on in prior decades does not mean that they did not happen. Simply because the news didn't blast 24 hour coverage of shootings for a week after they happened doesn't mean that they weren't any less horrific. These things happen, it is horrifying and it sucks but it's a disturbing reality. More can and should be done about it. Locally. Imposing government restrictions breeds resentment, the last thing the government ever needs.
Teachers should be more interactive with their students, get to know them, it can help to see the warning signs a lot earlier. Teachers should never choose favorites, ignore their pupils or make education an aggressive competition. Schools should allow students an outlet for violent behavior, not restrict it, (especially in males, not being sexist just biological, testosterone causes more violent tendencies) through gym games and recess; nothing harmful, just something where you can hurl a foam ball at people and get that shit out of your system. Parents should just give half a fuck about their kids' lives, keep dangerous material (not just guns but also toxic chemicals and explosive fabrication materials as well) in a safe and restricted place and EDUCATE their children on safety as well as themselves.
These are just my opinions, I fully respect yours. I deeply respect you for being brave enough to address the issue calmly, too many people reflexively try to change the world out of emotion rather than calmly analyzing the situation and suggesting rational options afterwards.
<3
