“Now, this all doesn’t sound very conservative does it? Well, that’s the response Democrats are counting on, that we will pretend the old rules still apply while they’re jamming us with the new ones. These attacks are a fundamental assault on the liberty of normal Americans. We need to recognize them for what they are, and we need to exercise our own political power to defeat this attack on our ability to participate in our own governance. Bake us a cake, jerks. We warned you – you are going to hate the new rules.”
After days of bitter hurt, anger, deep savage argument, and plenty of non-thinking social media trolls blurting whatever comes to mind through their thumbs, it’s time we as Americans begin a genuine discussion about how to stop the next school shooting from occurring.
It’s important that we do this even though gun deaths are by no means the most dangerous form of death in America today.
In 2017, with 300,000,000-plus guns in the hands of Americans, there were 15,549 gun deaths. This ranks less than half the number of automobile deaths even though there are fewer cars in existence than guns. In 2017, there were 253,000,000 cars in existence and 41,000 auto deaths.
Nonetheless, the rhetoric is so loud and the anger so tightly wound that a way forward needs to begin. Genuinely good people on both sides of this issue disagree. Pro-gun people believe that owning a gun is one step of many in helping to keep their families safe and their government from becoming too tyrannical. Anti-gun people believe that the mere existence of a gun is a danger to all. But note that both sets of people desire safety in general.
With very little expertise, but with a robust research ability, my staff and I began looking at this issue this week from the perspective of what could be done that would be tangible, but also acceptable to both sides of the discussion. Here’s seven simple steps that can and should be implemented overnight across the country and in similar fashion school shootings would be eliminated. This list is not exhaustive but is a starting point where good-willed people can come together to make a significant difference now.
by Kevin McCullough
