Actual gun control? In the US? You mean not-shit gun control in the US? Well, let's see what the hubbabaloo is.
- Anybody who sells guns must get a licence and do background checks, or be subject to criminal prosecutions.
Huh, that should... Really just be common sense. Nobody in their right fucking mind sells a car or a house to someone without at least doing a basic financial background check to make sure they aren't getting molested by debt and could feasibly afford to pay it back, and you can't drive a car without having a licence, so... This isn't exactly unreasonable to ask for with instant murder sticks. Hell, so far as I'm aware, a lot of states already have at least some limited form of this in place as is.
- Hire more people to process applications faster.
Mixed feelings. On the one hand, if you want a system to vomit licences like this in the US? You probably need a robust system capable of handling thousands of requests a day. On the other hand, is it really necessary to balloon yet another federal department in the US to such sizes that admin will start eating more money than the actual service provided? Ironically, this is probably where a crown corporation could come in handy, since it could operate the entire process by itself and use the fees it generates to feed itself, without ballooning government further.
- We're gonna do more to help those with mental illnesses get what they need.
Empty words. Unless free, high quality mental health care is offered,
or subsidized mental health medication is offered at a price that the dirt poor can reasonably afford, nothing the federal government does will mean anything. "We're going to help" means nothing. Either do something or stop pinning all the worst atrocities on a group of people who are overwhelmingly more likely to be self-destructive than malicious and violent. Seriously, this talking point pisses me off, quite a bit. All it does is further fearmonger a group of people that generally already have to hide what they are, lest they never get a job again.
- We're gonna boost gun safety technology.
Neat. I'm okay with this. Who doesn't want guns to be less dangerous? I mean, I'm not sure what more you can do than you already have... It's a fairly simple device and the gun safety switch is pretty much the most practical safety mechanism I can think of, save for the obviously most effective: Training. But people can choose to fuck off with training, not pay attention. This is not as easy a promise as it sounds.
- If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless it gets your fingerprint...
Uhh... Phones aren't boomsticks. Comparing phones to boomsticks is silly. You can fingerprint lock that gun down all you want, and, hey, if you can do that, go for it. However, the mechanism itself--that is, the gun--is a brutally simple enough device that you can just rip whatever security measures are inside out with ease and keep using it. I mean, go for it, try to make it harder to just grab one and use it to blow people away, but don't pretend this will somehow magic away cartels using unlicensed firearms to murder people, or mass shooters who will just Google how to rip that electronic device out.
- Our inalienable right to life and blah blah blah stripped from murdered people.
I couldn't even be arsed to finish writing this one. Yes, those people were murdered. No, it is absurd to say that a single person going on a killing spree somehow proves that violating one part of the constitution to protect another is somehow okay now. One asshole does not represent anywhere near a majority of people. You abridge or amend rights as necessary when the majority suffer. As terribly tragic as these crimes are, and as much as I would support gun control, this is not a good argument at all. It's pure emotional appeal, and... Oh, right. Americans. :|
Overall? Step-ish in the right direction. Ish. The main big point being "hey, let's make sure everybody who sells murder sticks has licences and performs background checks." Also, investing into safety technology never really hurts--it's not taking the guns away, it's just asking "is there any way we can design these to be safer?" I mean, electronic fingerprint locking might not stop the cartels, but it might at least stop little Timmy from accidentally blowing off his own head because daddy was lazy and forgot to lock the .44 back in the case.
I mean, I'd love for more investment into mental health, and targeting the main reasons these massive levels of gun violence exist (COUGH DRUG WAR COUGH) but, I guess it's just easier to try and ban the death sticks. Because you know how you cure a disease? Treat the symptoms, and ignore the causes. That will go swimmingly.
"Knife violence is on the rise!"
Oh boi.
