San Francisco Chronicle - A Solid Start To Curtail Gun Violence
February 14, 2013
President Obama finished his State of the Union speech with a rousing call for action against gun violence. He invoked the name of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, shot to death just a week after performing at the inauguration. The president brought up the wounding of ex-Rep. Gabby Giffords and the families of mass slaughters in Connecticut, Colorado, Wisconsin, Arizona and Virginia.
"They deserve a vote," he implored.
They do - as do all Americans who are living with the danger created by lax laws that allow guns to get into the hands of the wrong people and allow the sale of high-capacity magazines and weapons of war that go well beyond any rational need for self-defense.
Now comes the hard part: getting Congress to actually do something significant.
A road map for a reasonable approach that could pass constitutional muster while advancing public safety has been put forward by the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force chaired by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.
Its recommendations, following a two-month assessment, included mandatory background checks on gun purchases, renewal of the assault weapons ban, increased emphasis on mental health issues, and research on the relationship between popular culture (video games, TV, music, movies) and gun violence.
The plainspoken Thompson has emerged as a voice of calm consensus on one of the hot-button issues of our time. He is a Vietnam veteran and hunter who is resolute in his belief that the Second Amendment established an individual right to bear arms.
But Thompson is also a realist who recognizes that gun rights are not absolute, and that the proliferation of assault weapons is not only a danger to society - it is undermining the way Americans regard all gun owners.
"As a gun owner and a hunter, I think assault weapons are a pox on our house," Thompson told our editorial board earlier this week.
Thompson also maintained that responsible gun owners should have nothing to fear from mandatory background checks that prevent the sale to felons, domestic abusers, the mentally ill and others who are prohibited from owning firearms. Under the current law, which requires checks only on sales from federally licensed dealers, allows 40 percent of all purchases to elude this screening process.
As Obama noted in his State of the Union, gun-control laws should not be held to the impossible standard of preventing "every senseless act of violence in this country." But the task force is on the right path: There is no question that keeping guns out of dangerous hands, and stopping the open sale of weapons designed to inflict mass casualties, advances public safety.
A consensus approach
Key recommendations of the bipartisan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force chaired by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena:
-- Protect Second Amendment rights of citizens to own firearms for hunting, shooting sports, defense, and "other lawful and legitimate purposes."
-- Reinstate a prospective ban on assault weapons and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.
-- Require background checks on gun sales, with few exceptions (such as gifts to family members).
-- Tighten enforcement of laws against "straw purchasers" who buy guns for those who are legally prohibited from possessing them.
-- Improve prevention, early intervention and treatment of mental illness.
-- Address our culture's glorification of violence in movies, television, music and video games.
"They deserve a vote," he implored.
They do - as do all Americans who are living with the danger created by lax laws that allow guns to get into the hands of the wrong people and allow the sale of high-capacity magazines and weapons of war that go well beyond any rational need for self-defense.
Now comes the hard part: getting Congress to actually do something significant.
A road map for a reasonable approach that could pass constitutional muster while advancing public safety has been put forward by the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force chaired by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.
Its recommendations, following a two-month assessment, included mandatory background checks on gun purchases, renewal of the assault weapons ban, increased emphasis on mental health issues, and research on the relationship between popular culture (video games, TV, music, movies) and gun violence.
The plainspoken Thompson has emerged as a voice of calm consensus on one of the hot-button issues of our time. He is a Vietnam veteran and hunter who is resolute in his belief that the Second Amendment established an individual right to bear arms.
But Thompson is also a realist who recognizes that gun rights are not absolute, and that the proliferation of assault weapons is not only a danger to society - it is undermining the way Americans regard all gun owners.
"As a gun owner and a hunter, I think assault weapons are a pox on our house," Thompson told our editorial board earlier this week.
Thompson also maintained that responsible gun owners should have nothing to fear from mandatory background checks that prevent the sale to felons, domestic abusers, the mentally ill and others who are prohibited from owning firearms. Under the current law, which requires checks only on sales from federally licensed dealers, allows 40 percent of all purchases to elude this screening process.
As Obama noted in his State of the Union, gun-control laws should not be held to the impossible standard of preventing "every senseless act of violence in this country." But the task force is on the right path: There is no question that keeping guns out of dangerous hands, and stopping the open sale of weapons designed to inflict mass casualties, advances public safety.
A consensus approach
Key recommendations of the bipartisan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force chaired by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena:
-- Protect Second Amendment rights of citizens to own firearms for hunting, shooting sports, defense, and "other lawful and legitimate purposes."
-- Reinstate a prospective ban on assault weapons and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds.
-- Require background checks on gun sales, with few exceptions (such as gifts to family members).
-- Tighten enforcement of laws against "straw purchasers" who buy guns for those who are legally prohibited from possessing them.
-- Improve prevention, early intervention and treatment of mental illness.
-- Address our culture's glorification of violence in movies, television, music and video games.