Issue 73 Who should not have a gun May 9, 2013

As my post yesterday was about the people who want to and possibly need to own a gun I thought it appropriate to examine who should not have one. So here it goes.

Convicted Criminals: The most obvious are convicted criminals. We do not want or need these people being released just to return to a life of crime. However, not all criminals should be banned from owning guns. Those criminals who should never be allowed to own a gun in my opinion are rapists and child molesters. Additionally, people convicted of other violent crimes already involving a gun or deadly weapon such as a person who committed armed robbery or a murder. That sums of the list of who should not own a gun when it comes to criminals. People who have been in bar fights, petty theft are small time criminals who chose the least violent rout possible and thus should not be considered as dangerous upon release. Those who commit victimless crimes like insider trading also should be exempted from the ban. If they already own a gun (that was not used in the crime in question) obviously it should be seized, but it should be returned upon their release. Like I said earlier, those who commit violent criminal acts should never be allowed to own a gun again, but those who do not commit such acts should be allowed the trust of society once again. But if you want to be safe, repeat offenders will be banned from owning fire arms as well.

Mentally ill: People in this category also should not be allowed to own guns. Wait, forget what I said, some people in this category should not be allowed to own guns. You are probably thinking why on earth some people who are mentally ill should be allowed to own a gun. Well, it is very simple, members of both the police and the military are considered to be mentally ill. These members of law enforcement and our troops suffer from depression, anxiety, bi-polarism, extreme stress and other such mental disorders which would classify them as mentally ill. These men and women have access to some of the most powerful arsenals on earth, and you know what, we trust them. So people with mental illness should be allowed to own a gun, but who amongst people in this category should not.

Those in this category that should not be allowed to own a firearm are those who would seek to harm themselves or others. You will need a trained professional to diagnose such cases and even then exceptions can me made based on how severe someone’s condition is, i.e. a person who is prone to suicide due to post traumatic stress should not be allowed to own a gun. Even if these people are not allowed to own a gun in the short term, this should not prohibit them from owning a gun once their condition is under control. Just remember, if we just out right banned people with such disorders then we would be disarming almost everyone. Face it; we are all a little nuts.

Conclusion: Yes there are exceptions to every rule. Some of you may agree with me, while others may want even tighter restrictions and I welcome the conversation. However, I would like to bring to your attention a more pressing concern, the way mentally ill people in the U.S. are treated medically. There are instances where doctors are not allowed to take on there case if these people do not show any signs of wanting to harm themselves or others. As a result, these people go untreated. Before we really want to fix gun laws (let alone actually enforce ones that work) we have to fix the mental health care system so we can help to prevent things like school shootings. There are other little things we can do to prevent good citizens from becoming murderers to, like addressing issues with school bulling which can drive kids to kill their peers. We can address issues with criminality by adjusting laws to stop ruining peoples live in victimless crimes like abusing a drug, and even prevent repeat offenders by finding ways to show employers that these former criminals are trustworthy so they don't turn back to a life of crime. Laws can only react to a problem, but what I’m talking about here helps to reduce such issues from occurring, and that is all we can do.