Let's be real. After every tragedy we lie to ourselves. The television hosts stand on a soap box and say "enough," for the fifth time. The conservative politicians say "it's the video games and the movies" knowing that there is no way they're going to curb violence in movies and video games. The liberal politicians say "get the assault rifles," and that won't happen either. The mechanics of Washington, the NRA, the MPAA, and the campaign dollars that they give, kick into action. And we all wait for the next killing fields coming to a theatre, a school, a mall near you.
So what can we actually do? We know the problem. The problem isn't the guns. The US has 200 million guns and 200 spree killings. That's less than .1%.
The problem isn't the movies and the video games. The US sells more movies and video games globally than locally. Yet you don't hear about spree killings in Korea or in Dusseldorf, Germany. Yet these people consume as many or more US media products than anyone else.
Rather, the problem is the intersection of these items with a sick mind and ignorance. Law enforcement has no idea where these intersections occur. So what's the solution. What's really possible? Perhaps the solution isn't simply legal, cultural, but is rather digital.
The Solution:
The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau has one of the most user friendly interfaces out of any government agency I've ever seen. Complaints are trackable, responsive, and it's interface is modern unlike most government agencies.
Step 1: Get these same people to write a suite of applications across all devices, iPhones, Androids, tablets, and the Internet. The purpose of this system is a receipting system.
Step 2: Congress must pass a law that says very simply any weapon or weapon related item (extended clips, bulletproof vests, etc.) that is transferred must be registered on this system. Also any future sale must be registered at the point of sale whether that sale is conducted in brick and mortar facilities, at a trade show or online.
Step 3: The penalty for a weapon transfer without registration must be a stiff one with no exceptions, 5 years in federal prison with no parole for both the giver and the receiver of the item.
Step 4: The ATF should hire data engineers. These engineeers should build algorithms that basically spit out the names and addresses of anyone building an arsenal used to kill people. Not a family with a passion for hunting but people killing weapons, AR-14s with extended clips, full body armor, large ammo caches, etc.
Step 5: This information should be fed to local law enforcement. Local law enforcement should then stop by to convey three messages. First, here is a class for securing any new weapons. Two, here are mental health resources if need be. And finally, a police officer can tell whether this is a person that needs to be watched. Eyes can be put on that person and community leaders quietly alerted to be on the look out.
This is a doable solution. It allows for as many guns as a person wishes to own. It doesn't require a societal shift that would stop the creatives from creating the next Matrix trilogy which nets this nation billions of dollars globally and is one of the bases of American soft power. It doesn't require a massive mental health infrastructure which is never really going to happen because that costs money.
Rather this has a light footprint with a substantive hand attached.
Curtis Sumpter
So what can we actually do? We know the problem. The problem isn't the guns. The US has 200 million guns and 200 spree killings. That's less than .1%.
The problem isn't the movies and the video games. The US sells more movies and video games globally than locally. Yet you don't hear about spree killings in Korea or in Dusseldorf, Germany. Yet these people consume as many or more US media products than anyone else.
Rather, the problem is the intersection of these items with a sick mind and ignorance. Law enforcement has no idea where these intersections occur. So what's the solution. What's really possible? Perhaps the solution isn't simply legal, cultural, but is rather digital.
The Solution:
The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau has one of the most user friendly interfaces out of any government agency I've ever seen. Complaints are trackable, responsive, and it's interface is modern unlike most government agencies.
Step 1: Get these same people to write a suite of applications across all devices, iPhones, Androids, tablets, and the Internet. The purpose of this system is a receipting system.
Step 2: Congress must pass a law that says very simply any weapon or weapon related item (extended clips, bulletproof vests, etc.) that is transferred must be registered on this system. Also any future sale must be registered at the point of sale whether that sale is conducted in brick and mortar facilities, at a trade show or online.
Step 3: The penalty for a weapon transfer without registration must be a stiff one with no exceptions, 5 years in federal prison with no parole for both the giver and the receiver of the item.
Step 4: The ATF should hire data engineers. These engineeers should build algorithms that basically spit out the names and addresses of anyone building an arsenal used to kill people. Not a family with a passion for hunting but people killing weapons, AR-14s with extended clips, full body armor, large ammo caches, etc.
Step 5: This information should be fed to local law enforcement. Local law enforcement should then stop by to convey three messages. First, here is a class for securing any new weapons. Two, here are mental health resources if need be. And finally, a police officer can tell whether this is a person that needs to be watched. Eyes can be put on that person and community leaders quietly alerted to be on the look out.
This is a doable solution. It allows for as many guns as a person wishes to own. It doesn't require a societal shift that would stop the creatives from creating the next Matrix trilogy which nets this nation billions of dollars globally and is one of the bases of American soft power. It doesn't require a massive mental health infrastructure which is never really going to happen because that costs money.
Rather this has a light footprint with a substantive hand attached.
Curtis Sumpter
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