Those Who Fail to do Something get Shot

 Give us just a few things and gun violence in the U.S. will decline. At least try, America. At least make an effort. Put together a strategy to counter the gun violence in our nation. There's this old saying that says, "Fail to plan is to plan to fail.

1.) Register guns. Yes, the famous/infamous suggestion that guns be registered. This does not take guns away from the general citizenry. But, it does put criminals in more of a fix. If they register a weapon, it will attach their name to it and make it easier to identify them as the person who committed the crime. Guns left at the scene of the crime will be traceable to their owners. It is hard to understand why gun registration should be opposed, since it largely affects the criminals. We already have laws against ex-cons having guns; so why should anyone oppose a law that doesn't split the general citizenry from their guns but does make things just a little more difficult for the criminal?

2.)  Make it illegal for someone to register the gun for someone else and then punish those who break this law.  With this, they will think twice before buying a gun for someone else. If it is they who are on the line, they become more likely to toe the line.

3.) License the guns. Gun licensing is different from gun registration. With registration, it is the weapon that is registered. With licensing, it is the owner who is licensed. You don't just go buy a gun; you have to pass a test -- just as a car owner would. I have a friend who has noted that just as a driver's license is needed to drive, what he calls a "gunner's license" is required to operate a gun. There is nothing wrong with requiring training. No one is saying you can't keep or bear a weapon, They are just asking you to know the safety rules and learn when is the time to use the weapon and when it isn't. Bill Clinton was an advocate of gun licensing.

4.) Offer rewards for the apprehension and conviction of those who own guns illegally. We live in an incentive-driven world. If someone can reap a lot of money by turning in the criminal, they will be much more inclined to do so.

These are four ideas to stem gun violence. Obviously there could be more. But these four laws would be a starting point. America needs to have a strategy for curbing gun violence. We cannot freeze up like a deer in the headlights. 

If we do, we will get shot.