Meaningful Gun Control - Comprehensive Plan

While many people have crafted worthwhile petitions demanding action after the murder of 26 people in Newton, Connecticut, this petition serves to put forth a comprehensive plan to take the action so many are demanding and hopefully contribute to the dialogue and initiative that Vice President Joe Biden has engaged in this week.

Here are some ideas. I hope they will be helpful.

1) Changes to Firearms Regulation:

a) Eliminate the sale and circulation of all automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles and any other weapons that cannot be legally used for hunting. They are designed for one purpose, killing people;
b) No person should be allowed to own an automatic weapon of any kind (pistol, shotgun, rifle, etc.);
c) No civilian should be allowed to own or possess a military weapon of any kind (pistol, rifle, AK-47, hand grenade, etc.);
d) Eliminate and prohibit the sale and distribution of all ammunition for those weapons;
e) Enact significant penalties for any dealer, retailer or individual who sells or distributes such weapons ; (see below)
f) Enact a hefty federal firearm tax (20%), akin to the cigarette and gas taxes, making gun owners responsible for paying for any of the measures and programs required to facilitate their gun ownership;
g) Offer federal tax, rebate, or grant incentives for schools that install access control panels (similar to those found in many government and other professional buildings) to prevent access by unauthorized persons.

2) Mental Health Assessment and Treatment:

a) Similar to the mandatory, confidential reporting of any suspected child abuse by public teachers and officials, there should be a similar, confidential requirement for reporting suspected mental illness in students.
i. Anyone who is reported must undergo a thorough psychiatric evaluation and be required to participate in all recommended interventions and recommendations;
ii. Once a person has been reported, the person and all relatives must turn in all weapons they possess until the person has been either cleared by the psychiatrist or assigned to an inpatient facility;
iii. All reporting and subsequent investigation shall remain confidential and not appear in any type of publicly-available record, permanent or otherwise.
b) Funding for mental health facilities must be increased and additional annual training for therapists must be a mandated part of their certification and recertification.

3) Suggested Punishment/Consequences:

a) Any person who makes a reported threat to do violence must:
i. Undergo thorough psychiatric evaluation and be required to participate in all recommended interventions and recommendations;
ii. Serve a minimum of 1 year of jail time if the threat is determined to not be genuine (no parole);
iii. Serve a minimum of 5 years in prison and with extensive psychiatric therapy if person is determined to be a genuine threat (no parole);
b) Any person perpetrating a crime with a gun when it is not discharged – 10 years in prison (no parole);
c) Any person perpetrating a crime in which a gun is discharged – 20 years in prison (no parole);
d) Any person perpetrating a crime in which someone gets shot – 40 years in prison (no parole);
e) Any person perpetrating a crime in which someone is killed – life in prison (no parole);
f) Anyone, dealer, retailer or individual who sells or distributes illegal weapons;
iv. Their store/business is closed;
v. 1st offense – 5 years in prison (no parole);
vi. 2nd offense – 10 years in prison (no parole);
g) Dealers or individuals selling or distributing weapons without proper background checks – same penalties as #5;
h) Any person who commits a crime that involves the use of a weapon must be sentenced to jail time and therapy and not be allowed to possess or own a gun from that time forward.

4) Gun Education

In addition to regulations that must be met in order to procure a gun permit, all gun owners must participate in a comprehensive educational program related to gun safety annually. Penalty for missing one year - $500 fine and confiscation of all his/her guns for one year. Penalty for missing a second year - $10,000 fine and loss of all guns for 10 years.

We must act now.