Gun Control

This is, of course, a long overdue topic for action instead of discussion; it's been discussed to death, and that's the problem: it's got lots of company in dying. Therefore, I present to you my solution to the problem, but first, a bit of background.

I was born and lived near or in the state of Maryland for my first 3+ decades. Washington D.C. for most of it, Maryland proper for some. Full disclosure, I was an NRA member for a bit; not because I was any sort of true believer or right-wing "gun nut", before you get the wrong idea; I joined because it let me use their indoor shooting range in Virginia which, as you might expect, is quite nice. I did let my membership lapse once the baggage that came along with it became too much. Now, I bring up my Maryland credentials because 1) I have purchased firearms while living there and 2) Maryland, second only to California, has some of the toughest restrictions on guns in the country but when viewed through the filter of common sense, aren't that tough.

If you want to buy something Class 1, a so-called "long gun", there is no difference in buying one than pretty much anywhere else. You have to fill out paperwork and show ID and all that, but you can pretty much walk out the door of your local gun shop with it. Class 2, on the other hand, is a little different. We're talking handguns here; the kind you can hide in a bulky coat pocket or an under the shirt holster and nobody knows you're armed. Class 2, you buy it, and then you have to wait 7 days to pick it up. In the meantime, your information is sent to the State Police and reviewed. In what I think is a classic in bureaucratic history, if they can't find anything in your background to prevent you from having your gun, your paperwork comes back stamped "NOT DISAPPROVED". "We don't really approve of anybody buying guns, but we couldn't find any reason not to let you have it." What's more, you can only buy one Class 2 firearm every 30 days. There is a loophole around that if you register as a "Collector", but the background check for that goes to a whole other level. In case you are wondering where we go from here, yes there is a Class 3; it covers things like pre-ban automatic weapons (in case you ever found Grandpa's old Tommy Gun from the war in the attic and wanted to sell it) or you wanted you buy a suppressor for your existing guns. Very rare, crazy background check, and an expensive tax stamp to mess with any of that, treading closely into "Why the hell do you need that?" territory.

My proposal is a simple one: Make anything semi-automatic above .22 caliber Class 2, even if it's a "long gun." That's it. Here's what that would do:

1) If you want to go into a gun shop or a Walmart and buy a hunting rifle or a shotgun, then there is no change for you. If it's your kid's 16th birthday and you live out in the country and you want to get them a Ruger 10/22 to shoot tin cans in the back field, then there is no change for you either.
2) If you want to buy something that shoots higher caliber bullets real fast, you need to wait a while. We need to look you over a little bit, just to make sure you don't beat up your wife or have had a stay in a mental institution. You're a salt of the earth kind of person, not planning on doing anything nefarious, you can give us your info and wait a week, can't you? You're looking to buy more than one gun, then you're going to need to wait a good long while OR you're going to need to let us take a real close look at you. You don't mind that, do you?

Now, you can be the most ardent Second Amendment supporter, standing to the right of the ghost of Chuck Heston himself; I still don't see where you can argue with the points I've made here. A very dear departed friend of mine, who definitely fell into this camp, used to complain about chafing under Maryland's rules. However, he even went through the whole process of buying a suppressor that fit several of his guns; his total collection of guns must have numbered more than 50. He never did like my response to his complaints: (looking at his collection) "So, what have you ever wanted that Maryland said you couldn't have, exactly?" Yes, he was a law abiding citizen, and yes, he had to put up with mountains of paperwork and not a little inconvenience to build up his collection and no, he was not the type of person who was ever going to shoot up a school with his guns...

Can you really tell me that paperwork and inconvenience isn't worth it, if it keeps a gun out of the hands of someone that might?