OK. It's your turn then: how do you propose we get guns from out of the hands of the mentally unstable or criminal people? Just how do you do this? First, the only thing that I can immediately recognize, at least from a logical perspective, is that one must be able to distinguish a mentally unstable (criminal) person that wishes to purchase a gun; now in order to do this one must have constructive information about that individual so that one knows not to sell that gun to that person.
Remember, Thrilla: you are about to
address this problem on gun sales and how we make sure we don't complete transactions to the improper elements. Go for it.
keep the existing background check framework (which already includes reasonable requirements for private sellers).... add in mental health stipulations ( it's already been illegal for over 40 years to sell a firearm to a person who is mentally unstable)
in itslef, that doesn't do all that much.. but it does do some good, and more importantly, it does no harm ( provided the list of exclusions is proper and principled)
there is more we can do... as this is a problem that must be confronted on multiple fronts.
we need to provide for, and actually enforce, incredibly stiff penalties on anyone who commits a felony with the use of a firearm ( i'm not talking about letting a guy hang out for 10 or 15 years in a cell... i'm talking about having that guy turn big rocks into little rocks for an additional 10 years on top of the sentence for the crime committed)
we need to rid ourselves of inefficient, bloated, and redundant federal agencies and utilize those funds to offer block grants to the States to bolster their mental health care delivery systems. ( this should be done immediately, before we even start talking about bans and restrictions).
we need to enforce laws already on the books.... seriously, laws are useless without enforcement and our government does a piss poor job at enforcement ( probably because every year thousands and thousands of new laws are introduced, so LEO's can't really focus).. they suck so bad at enforcement, even i'm not scared of breaking all these new laws that are proposed, and i'm not even part of the criminal element.
we need to provide parents of troubled kids some help... not money or anything.. but something as simple as strengthened involuntary commitment powers.. involve schools in on the deal as well.
what I will not do is require ever transfer of a firearm, to any person, have a mandated background check attached to it... not only is that an unenforceable law, it's an overly intrusive law.
the criminal element already ignores background check laws, or circumvents them at will... thus, you are targeting those people who are least likely to commit heinous crimes.
overall, I think the furor over gun violence is overblown.... yes, there are tragedies, yes, it's horrible to see children or innocents be harmed... but statistically speaking, it's a very small problem in a world full of big ass problems... big ass problems that are overlooked and completely ignored.