Open letter to Senator Mitch McConnell

Act on gun legislation. I have a 900 word text as below
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Dear Senator:

Hope you had a great recess and enjoyed time off with your family this summer. With congress back from recess, I am sure there are many high
priority legislative affairs that you need to take care of. Nothing should be more important than gun legislation. Why? Because this legislation has the
potential to positively impact the lives of millions of Americans.

I am very deeply concerned about the increase in frequency of mass shootings. From schools, malls, retail stores, restaurants, work place, to even our
own front porch (yes I repeat front porch – look at Chicago), nothing can be deemed safe anymore. We are not talking about a war torn zone in the
third world or Middle East. This is America where everyone has his or her rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. It is a national shame that in
the greatest country on earth “we the people” have to run normal errands with fear of mass shooting hanging over our heads.

As a parent of a five year old who got into school system this year, I am deeply worried about the safety of kids. I am not alone. Talking to other parents
in our neighborhood seems like most of them has this concern at the back of their mind. It is something that keeps people awake at night. Deeply living
in partisan bubbles, lawmakers exhibit gross insensitiveness about the issue. This is not about scoring points over your political opponents for god’s
sake. It is about the future of this country. It is about the kids and grandkids of yours as well as mine. It is as much your personal problem as it is mine.
Nobody is immune to this violence.

As I always ask, why does a simple common sense solution (that is required to be addressed with empathy) always get so complicated with lawmakers in
Washington DC? Even worse, empathy often lies on the wrong side. Pardon my lengthy letter. I request esteemed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle
to work together on war footing to address loopholes. I request to consider a comprehensive option that include the following:

1. Support to pass red flag laws. It is an important tool in the arsenal to get gun out of hands of wrong people.
2. I understand HR 1112 bill is passed in house. It is a good start, but not adequate. As NPR reports, “The background check does not apply to
transfers between close relatives. A firearm could also be loaned to someone using it at a shooting range or for the purposes of hunting and trapping, unless
there is a reason to suspect the gun will be used in a crime or the person receiving the gun is prohibited from possessing the gun under state or federal law”
(Source: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/698512397/house-passes-most-significant-gun-bill-in-2-decades)
3. Instead of taking up the above bill on senate and passing it as-is, build upon it and address the limitations of this bill. Make it bound for
transfers between close relatives. Have people check for FOID or equivalent license before loaning them at shooting ranges. Hold the loaner
responsible if they end up floating the law (Enforcement should be no different than implications of handing out tobacco or alcohol to people
under 18). Pass a strengthened version of HR 1112 in both House and Senate.
4. Place a ban on all semi-automatic weapons and handguns. Define the term “semi-automatic” without ambiguity. It could be something that
doesn’t fire more than one a round, or something that doesn’t outgun lowest level law-enforcement uses in the country. Just come up with
what makes sense and define it accordingly. There is no necessity for people to have military grade weapons on street. There is no reason to
outgun law enforcement. Even law enforcement veterans agree. “Thomas, a 27-year veteran of the Cincinnati Police Department, said he had to worry
as an officer that, with a 15-round clip and one in chamber of his pistol, criminals would outgun him. “My little nine-millimeter would be useless against an AR-
15,” he said, referring to his standard-issue handgun and a high-powered rifle that has proved popular among mass killers” (Source:
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/national/as-mass-shootings-rise-experts-say-high-capacity-magazines-should-be-thefocus/2019/08/18/d016fa66-bfa3-11e9-a5c6-
1e74f7ec4a93_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3r0qIC0BYwTFIIACBrfRNgOvDsh5Ank9W63ZzcPnFq71jBAkq2tQgt15U )
5. Implement a time bound gun buy-back program. Make buy-back mandatory for semi-automatic weapons. Incentivize people who voluntarily
participate in buybacks. Australia and Brazil are few countries that attempted this approach with decent success (Check references section at
the end of the letter).
6. Implement licensing for gun ownership on lines of how it is done with DMV. Gun ownership is as much a right as automobile ownership.
While we have oversights for automobile ownership, there are none for guns. There is no reason why rules shouldn’t be the same here.
Make every gun ow...