Paul Karrer teaches fifth-graders in a high-poverty school in southern California.
He is a gun owner who believes in gun control.
It is not hard to do, he says.
Guns can be controlled and be consistent with the Second Amendment. Read his essay to learn how.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I contacted my Representative, and my two Senators. NO TO THE NRA!
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The NRA has less than 5 million members. There are about 180 million firearms owners in the USA, and even more who support the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
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Polls consistently show that even gun owners and members of the NRA support gun control.
They don’t lose their guns, but they are required to meet specific requirements to buy, own, and store their guns.
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Most responsible firearms-rights supporters, are in favor of solid, commonsense firearms legislation. We must make every effort to keep deadly weapons away from mentally ill persons, abusers, children, felons,etc. Point of sale background checks can assist in this goal.
Firearms are already the most highly and tightly regulated consumer product on the market. (I personally do not choose to own a firearm, for now).
Piling on more laws, on top of what already have, is only part of the solution to firearms violence.
Providing better and quicker mental health services to individuals, is a reasonable goal, that everyone can agree on.
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Mental health services is not gun control.
Those who want no gun control at all talk about mental health services.
It is far more effective to have a lengthy process to get approval to own a gun than to discover and treat every mentally ill person in the US who already has access to a gun.
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I am not suggesting that mental health services are gun control. I am stating that people with serious mental issues should not be permitted access to deadly weapons.
I have never met anyone who advocates “no gun control at all”. Every sensible person wants reasonable restrictions on firearms purchases by people who should not have them ( like the categories described above).
I disagree with having a “lengthy process”, in order for a law-abiding citizen to purchase firearms. The right of the people to keep and bear arms must not be infringed. Point-of-sale background checks can be completed very quickly.
It is impossible to discover and treat every mentally ill person in the USA. Fantasyland.
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Interesting article. In NZ it is illegal to own a firearm for self-defense. That reasoning would never fly in the USA. The police cannot be everywhere. So many people believe (correctly) that they must have the necessary tools (firearms) to defend themselves.
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Charles,
Thanks Paul Karrer
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There are ways to do this Hospitals Are Trying To Do What Politicians Haven’t: Stop Gun Violence
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gun-violence-intervention-hospitals_us_5bc0fbade4b01a01d68aadc6?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=__Must%20Reads__112518&utm_content=__Must%20Reads__112518+CID_588b359862f4f3cd090f3316223c663c&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=how%20to%20prevent%20the%20violence%20on%20the%20ground&ncid=newsltushpmgspecial__Must%20Reads__112518
BUT let’s be realistic–as this article is The Depressing Absence of Solutions After the Thousand Oaks Shooting https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-depressing-absence-of-solutions-after-the-thousand-oaks-shooting?mbid=nl_Daily%20111018&CNDID=45272181&utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20111018&utm_content=&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=Daily%20111018&hasha=0b7efaaf843601e54e3ef31aad9169d1&hashb=50d2958d4a70081c1c4006fb9fb3751e9226fdbb&spMailingID=14597347&spUserID=MTgwNzgwOTcyMzEyS0&spJobID=1520797153&spReportId=MTUyMDc5NzE1MwS2
“As long as the discussion about gun control continues to start from the premise that an individual has a right to bear arms, finding solutions that make an actual dent in the number of mass shootings will remain elusive.
America’s current political debate on guns begins with the idea that every person should be able to have one for self-defense. As a result, access to guns is far easier in the United States than in any other wealthy, industrialized country. A recent study estimated that there are three hundred and ninety-three million civilian-owned firearms in the United States, a rate of 120.5 guns for every hundred residents, making the country’s firearms-ownership rate twice that of the second-highest nation, Yemen.
“Gun control in our country is not really gun control anymore—it’s people control,” Swanson said. “We have to figure out the people who are so dangerous that it’s justified to limit their Second Amendment right. That’s really hard to do.” Swanson contrasted the task in the United States with that faced by authorities in Western Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan, where guns are, by law, rare. In those countries, “do people have the right to walk around with a handgun for their personal protection? They say, ‘No, it’s too dangerous.’ ” ” The root of the gun-violence problem, Swanson continued, “is baked into our country.”
And, I would like to add:
* I hope we can end gun violence, but how do we end the cause of such violence when social media and cyberspace inflames the crazies. It is nOT just the guns, it is the PUSH TO VIOLENCE as a way to express anger, that is afoot on our national stage the is causing this .
and BTW it is the DEATH MERCHANTS who profit from war and violence, who run the show and OWN the Congress and the executive office and the Supreme Court.
Think about the evidence…
Did we create a Military Industrial Complex that annually spends almost the same amount of money as the rest of the world combined on weapons of mass destruction? https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/US_defense_spending_1910_to_2007.png
Did we start many illegal wars killing millions of people and destroying entire national economies? Absolutely.
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“What is the primary use of the weapon?”
The answer has to be hunting or target use. In New Zealand, self-protection with a firearm is not a viable answer. Such an answer gets the applicant rejected.
………
Just try to get a law like this passed in the US. The NRA is a terrorist organization that supports human killing while working to make money for gun manufacturers. How many innocent adults and children need to be killed before Congress does something useful? Senator Todd Young [R-IN] was bought out by the NRA for $ 2,896,732. Guess why he won’t work for gun control.
……………………………….
Wayne LaPierre: 2018 NRA-ILA Leadership Forum
NRA
Published on May 5, 2018
NRA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre addresses the crowd at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, an event of the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings in Dallas, Texas.
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“The answer has to be hunting or target use. In New Zealand, self-protection with a firearm is not a viable answer. Such an answer gets the applicant rejected.”
When I was at U of C, there were tons of instructors in the lower level math and science classes who spoke very poor English, yet that was not considered a valid reason to transfer out of those instructors’ classes. A scheduling conflict was the only valid reason. Guess what? A lot of people in classes with poor English speakers suddenly had “scheduling conflicts”.
In the same vein, if we eliminate self-defense as a valid reason to buy a firearm, it won’t change the number of firearms purchased. There will just be a sudden spike of new “hunters” and “target shooters”.
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Ugh, just seeing Wayne LaPierre’s face fills me with as much revulsion as when I view our inglorious leader’s bloated mug. Two reactionary regressive miscreants who stand in the way of any progress on gun violence in this country.
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Q America’s current political debate on guns begins with the idea that every person should be able to have one for self-defense END Q
I disagree. “Every” person must definitely NOT be able to keep and bear arms. Mentally disturbed people, domestic abusers, children, felons, etc. must not be able to keep and bear arms.
Almost no one is opposed to universal point-of-sale background checks to prevent dangerous people like the aforementioned from possessing deadly firearms.
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To Charles:
It is a YES and NOT NO expression because you should add that “Every” GUN OWNER, and then repeat after Dr. Ravitch’s below quote. As a result, your expression would be valid and logical. Back2basic
[start quote]
dianeravitch
November 26, 2018 at 2:08 pm
Polls consistently show that even gun owners and members of the NRA support gun control.
They don’t lose their guns, but they are required to meet specific requirements to buy, own, and store their guns.
[end quote]
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Please define “mentally disturbed people” and how that might be enforced.
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Duane E Swacker: I’m also interested in “mentally disturbed people”. The killer in Las Vegas showed no signs of mental distress. He was collecting guns and decided to kill as many people as possible who were attending a concert. it was carefully planned.
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I think repeated conduct disorder arrests and anti social behavior arrests should qualify for Red Flagging as possibly qualifying under the mental health umbrella. Paul karrer
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
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When I moved to New Jersey in 1974 from Pennsylvania I was grandfathered in for a hunting license because I already had one from from PA, no need to take a required gun safety class. After my son turned 10, I signed him and a friend up for the class and attended it with them. As far as shotgun safety goes, it was excellent. But, the instructors were volunteers and pushed ridiculous conspiracy theories about how we had to fear our guns being taken away. They were mouthpieces for the NRA. A state required course was being used for this. Who wrote or supervised the curriculum?
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I own firearms and also believe in common sense firearms control with bans on all automatic weapons for civilians.
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Wow, Paul Karrer’s personal experiences regarding guns and gun violence are amazing. From his article: James Egan Holmes, the shooter at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, was my fifth-grade student. I know the stats by heart — 12 killed, 70 shot, he received a life sentence of 1,500 years. End quote
If the rest of the nation adopted NJ’s gun laws, that would be a big improvement. If I had my druthers, I would ban all semi-automatic guns, rifles and pistols and require gun owners to take out insurance on their guns. The author spoke of the strong and strict gun laws in New Zealand and………………drumroll……………….New Zealand has universal health care.
But this is the USA, no health care for you, 27 millions uninsured, tens of millions more with high deductible garbage insurance. Not to worry, in too many states you can buy all the guns and ammo that you want and even conceal and carry if you so desire.
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Joe,
Massacres happen with such frequency that they no longer shock and are soon forgotten.
Was the last one in a bar in California? Thousand Oaks?
Or was it the massacre in the Pittsburgh synagogue?
Hard to believe that the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas massacre was earlier this year.
Does anyone care?
Congress assumes that massacres are like auto accidents. They just happen.
Arm everyone and have shootouts.
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“Congress assumes that massacres are like auto accidents. They just happen.”
Until heavily armed Alt-Right nut cases start shooting up the offices of elected members of both Houses of Congress regardless of their party affliction instead of murdering only people in churches, shopping malls, public schools, and night clubs.
“In the United States, right-wing violence is on the rise”
The Washington Post, November 25, 2018 (behind a pay wall with no direct link allowed – content blocked)
But this link works:
“Study shows two-third of U.S. terrorism tied to right-wing extremists”
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/09/12/study-shows-two-thirds-us-terrorism-tied-right-wing-extremists
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Joe,
Thanks Paul Karrer
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On pages 54 and 55 of their 2008 Heller decision, the conservative Supreme Court majority practically almost begs Congress and State and local lawmakers to pass gun control laws; just take a look at how these conservative Justices provided lawmakers with the rationale and the action outline for gun control laws on those two pages of the Heller decision:
First, the Justices provide their blanket approval of gun control, saying: “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited…” [it is] “…not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”
Then the Justices invite enactment of specific gun control laws by clearly pointing out which laws they would approve if the laws were challenged, saying: “Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or on laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” So, Congress, state, and local lawmakers should begin immediately to draft and enact the following types of laws that are pre-approved and recommended by the U.S. Supreme Court:
The Justices additionally state: “We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller [an earlier case decided by the Supreme Court] said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those ‘in common use at the time’ [when the 2nd Amendment was written]. We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of ‘dangerous and unusual weapons’.” Weapons “in common use at the time” of our Founding Fathers were single-shot rifles, single-shot pistols, and single-shot shotguns; no multiple-shot revolvers, rifles, or semi-automatic weapons.
So, Congress and state and local lawmakers should begin immediately to draft and enact laws that outright ban the sale of dangerous and unusual guns. Any military-derived gun using the potent .223 caliber bullet (the bullet used in the AR-15 and other assault rifles) that’s designed to penetrate concrete walls and penetrate the kind of bullet-resistant vests that police wear is clearly an uncommonly dangerous gun that fits the Court’s thinking. The sale and possession of .223 ammunition can also be banned.
The Justices didn’t HAVE to say any of this in their Heller decision — that fact that they took the opportunity to say these things represents the Justices clear INVITATION to lawmakers to take such actions to place limits on gun sales, gun ownership, and gun possession, telling the lawmakers by these words that any challenge to such restrictions would be rejected by the Supreme Court.
What’s standing in the way: Congress members and state and local lawmakers who are owned and operated by the gun lobby. They are hollow, gutless men and women, even with the blood of school children flowing around them because there is no constitutional reason to not immediately enact gun control legislation…the conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority says so.
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This was just announced in The Times of NW Indiana. Good grief. The number of guns in the hands of civilians is astronomical. Why not have two guns and point one at your doctor? Maybe it will make doctors work more efficiently! HA!
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GARY — Officers arrested a 50-year-old man being treated for a head injury Saturday and seized two handguns after he attempted to abruptly walk out of a local hospital and pointed a gun at a doctor, police said.
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Very powerful article. Thanks for posting it.
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Erich…thanks…Paul Karrer
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Mostly agree with the suggestions. What I don’t like is this “It is a long process, expensive, and complicated. As it should be.” So only those with adequate monies can be licensed? Sorry, but that just doesn’t cut it in my book.
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I agree. And California, for example, already takes a lot of those measures. They are not financially prohibitive, though. It shouldn’t be a money thing. I also had some concerns about privacy rights, but overall agreed with the suggestions.
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Duane,
Thanks Paul Karrer
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Mentally disturbed people, domestic abusers, children in mind, felons, etc. must not be able to keep and bear arms as well as to run any political positions.
This would help Americans NOT being frustrated in FACING today’s chaos from Trump and his administration. Back2basic
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Here’s a thought: make it as easy to buy a gun as it is to vote in Florida…. When it’s more difficult to cast a vote than it is to buy a gun democracy is at risk…
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