Gun violence control and firearm negligence

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Don't want to control guns? Fine. Let's toss around some other ideas.

Let's talk about properly penalizing firearm negligence and putting serious prosecution and sentencing behind gun charges. Let's start with the following CBS Evening News story, which offers an explanation for Chicago's high murder rate despite its stricter gun control laws:

In New York, gun charges carry a minimum three- to five-year sentence which is not the case in Chicago and most other U. S. cities. So while Chicago might be tougher on controlling gun sales, they're not so good at punishing illegal gun possession (Um, Rahm? GET OFF YOUR ASS). Essentially, the threat of consequence makes some portion of NYC thugs think twice before packing. (CODE ORANGE NEWS ALERT: rule of law works.)

Starting there, here's a few proposed rules to chew on:

-Impose a minimum three- to five-year sentence on every gun charge conviction everywhere--including selling a gun to a felon. On second thought, make that eight to ten.

-Create a CUI (carrying under the influence) that carries penalties as least as stringent as a DUI.

-Impose stiff penalties and sentences for firearm negligence. No more "accidental" deaths when a little kid picks up a loaded gun and kills himself. To hell with your tearful puppy-eyed apologies. I want to see a serious investigation and trial wherein that gun owner proves he practiced due diligence in protecting that kid from that gun. Same goes for owners of lost or stolen firearms if their weapons are used in a crime. (I'm still waiting to hear what charges Nancy Lanza might have faced had she not faced her own gun.)

-And for those folks who start thinking their arsenal might not be such a good idea after watching negligent gun owner's getting hauled off in handcuffs on the evening news, how about a national voluntary gun buy-back program?

Now then: numbers. HuffPo has done some nice legwork on counting U. S. gun deaths--murders, accidents and those resulting from negligence--since Sandy Hook. The tally tops 1200 and includes 30 on Christmas day alone.



While HuffPo tracked actual news items, Slate is crowdsourcing the info. Before you gunnies pooh-pooh those numbers, know that counting gun deaths ain't easy. The NRA has essentially blocked any tracking by the GOV. So kitties, we're going to have to do this shit ourselves.

And we will, Mr. LaPierre. After all, we have more internet connections than you have guns.

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