A Deliberative Dialogue on Gun Control

Spokesperson One (No Restrictions): In my view, any restriction on the buying and selling of firearms violates the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights and the right to bear arms.  This is fundamental and should pre-empt any discussion about gun control. In addition, once restrictions are set in place, it is only a matter of time before a move to confiscate all guns is underway. This is, in part, why the sale of assault rifles and high capacity magazine clips should not be curtailed, as one new gun law leads to ten more. What might have begun as a well-intended effort to promote public safety leads to the slippery slope of unending gun legislation that harms the millions of law abiding gun owners who use their guns responsibly, while accomplishing nothing to prevent violent crime. We know that no matter how much we legislate against guns, criminals and others who want to inflict harm will find a way to acquire and use firearms against other humans. Gun control leaves the law abiding citizen defenseless and the person who is intent on doing harm even more dangerous. The only thing that is going to stop a potential murderer with a gun is another law abiding person with an equally powerful or still more powerful firearm.

Spokesperson Two (Registration and Gun and Ammunition Coding): We don't have to restrict gun ownership to promote public safety. Any responsible person who wants a gun can have one, as long as he or she agrees to register the firearm, accepts a brief waiting period for a background check, and tolerates all forms of ballistic fingerprinting and bullet coding. None of these requirements will interfere with gun ownership. They simply make it less likely that guns will fall into the hands of irresponsible parties, and that if a gun crime does occur, the perpetrator can be more easily traced. These simple guidelines allow those who believe strongly in the right to bear arms to see their rights fully realized. Even assault rifles and high capacity magazines are acceptable as long as we as a society can be assured that none of this lethal equipment is available to people who have been shown to lack the ability and the self-control to use it judiciously. America's love of guns does not have to be disrupted by bans and confiscations. But any reasonable person knows and most developed countries have learned that unless the most dangerous firearms are restricted, there will continue to be more unnecessary killing.

Spokesperson Three (Bans and Limits): People do kill people, but guns make it a lot easier. The evidence is overwhelming that when a gun is kept in a household, it makes that household much more dangerous, as much as three times more dangerous. Additionally, a weapon that is kept at home is 12 times more likely to be turned on a family member or guest than on a prowler. Of course, the National Rifle Association is right when it asserts that the vast majority of guns are used safely, but when 30,000 people a year are killed by guns, including homicides, suicides, and accidents, then something must be done to temper their use. Most people use cars safely as well, but that does not prevent the state from requiring users to demonstrate their competence as drivers and to register their automobiles. Furthermore, there are many kinds of high capacity cars, such as racing cars and formula one vehicles, that cannot be purchased by the ordinary person. The same situation should hold for guns. Strict registration of guns with background checks should be required, coding of guns and bullets should be taken for granted, and high capacity magazines, like the kind Adam Lanza used, as well as any form of assault rifle should be strictly prohibited. This is common sense and we know such restrictions save lives, as demonstrated by the evidence from just about every developed country in the world. Let's get on with the serious business of making the United States safer before another terrible gun tragedy occurs. Strictly prohibiting the sale of all assault rifles and high capacity magazines to civilians is an excellent place to start.