Initiatives that serve as the foundation of my approach to Gun Control and the 2nd Amendment:

• Overarching issue: gun safety. Gun owners should – must - be leaders in promoting gun safety. As the US Surgeon General declared, "Gun violence is a public health crisis."

• Strengthen background checks and red flag laws. We really need to keep arms away from people who pose threats to themselves and others.

• Extend financial help to gunshot victims. Taxpayers, through Medicaid and Medicare, should not have to pick up the treatment costs of gunshot victims. Similarly, taxpayers should not have to pay for any of the public assistance given to widows, widowers, and orphans. We need a tobacco-like national settlement with the gun and ammunition industries. Unfair as it may seem upon first look, these costs will be borne largely by responsible gun owners. However, I believe that guns and ammunition are by their very nature so inherently dangerous that payment of the associated societal costs becomes a fundamental obligation of gun ownership.

• Amend the Second Amendment. This is not my idea: it was proposed by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens as a way to resolve ambiguity about the militia clause. Current: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Suggested by Stevens: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed."

• Curb arms exports. One reason why people are fleeing to the U.S. is to escape violence – which is caused in part by the glut of U.S. arms in their countries. Fortunately, export controls are being tightened. Unfortunately, illegal sales continue.

• Guns and mental health. “It is critical that the public and policymakers stop responding to gun violence and mass shootings with statements that mental health conditions are the underlying cause. The claim is false and discriminatory.”

• Repeal immunity for gun manufacturers. Did you know that a 2005 law largely shields gun manufacturers from product liability suits? In the quest for safer arms, manufacturers must become part of the solution.

• When it comes to hunting and sport, I have no objection to responsible use.

Footnotes:

(1) https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-surgeon-general-declares-firearm-violence-public-health-crisis-2024-06-25/

(2) Stevens, John Paul. Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. https://archive.org/details/sixamendmentshow0000stev

(3) https://www.mhanational.org/gun-deaths-violence-and-mental-health

(4) https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title15/chapter105&edition=prelim

Resources:

Gun Violence Archive: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/

U.S. Department of Justice: Reducing Gun Violence: https://www.justice.gov/doj/reducing-gun-violence

Center for Gun Violence Solutions. Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-gun-violence-solutions

“There are many practical ways to reduce gun deaths.” Harvard University School of Public Health: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/there-are-many-practical-ways-to-reduce-gun-deaths/

Brady Is On a Mission to Free America From Gun Violence: https://www.bradyunited.org/