Guns and the NRA

The Debate

Shall we have any kind of controls on the ownership of guns in the United States of America? 

The debate on this question usually degenerates into a shouting match between two intractable opposites; the one denying any kind of regulation whatsoever, the other wanting an outright ban. Neither position will move us forward as a nation.

In response to the massacres at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and now most recently, in Aurora, Co, I have finally put to print some thoughts and convictions I’ve held about Gun Control for a long time.

In an effort to be calm and cool and measured in my own response to the issues before us I have prepared the following statement.

The Second Amendment says as follows; "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."

The NRA says of its own mission statement; The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an American non-profit that advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection of hunting and self-defense in the United States.

In point of fact I agree with everything that is said both in the Second Amendment and in the Purpose statement of the NRA. The Second Amendment begins with the words “Well Regulated”. 

Let us assume that we can agree with legal ownership of guns and rifles and ammunition for the purpose of self defense, hunting, sportsmanship, marksmanship etc. So far, so good.

It would follow then that legal gun owners in this country have a right to a license to own a gun. In order to protect the gun owner and the public, such a license shall be mandatory. Police Chief’s and Sheriff’s around the country shall issue such licenses under procedures adopted by various jurisdictions and under protection of the law.

Folks deemed dangerous to themselves or to the public may be denied a such a license in a manner to be approved of by a court of law. 

The NRA goes on to say that firearm safety is a matter of core concern to its own existence. In the interests of firearm safety, licensed gun owners shall belong to a local gun club and maintain a level of gun safety proficiency as approved of by the NRA. This shall also be mandatory.

All firearms shall be registered with the local police and sheriff's departments. This registration shall include a “print” of the firearm’s ballistics report to make tracking of each firearm identifiable.

Thus all persons wishing to bear arms in the United States shall have the right to do so as a matter of due process and under the protection of the Second Amendment. 

All weapons shall also be known and identifiable to local police and sheriff’s departments.

Purchase and sale of all ammunition shall be tracked and reported to local police and sheriff’s departments. 

There shall be a ban on the private ownership of assault weapons, except that there may be some use and ownership of assault weapons at gun clubs under the supervision of the NRA. Assault weapons shall not leave the premises of of such gun clubs. 

 One of the most telling bits of information that has come out about this most recent tragedy is that this perpetrator was even denied membership in a local gun club because of the bizarre nature of his behavior. Therefore it stands to reason that to protect the goal of firearm safety, gun club membership must be made mandatory. If one cannot measure up to the standards of a gun club in good standing with the NRA, such a person's right to bear arms certainly needs to come under question by the local police/sheriff and may go before the court for adjudication. 

I offer these thoughts as a matter for discussion and conversation. 

Fr. Paul Bresnahan.

And let me offer this helpful chart to see ourselves in comparison to other nations

List of countries

Country	Total firearm-related death rate	Homicides	Suicides	Unintentional deaths	Year	Sources and notes
South Africa	74.57	74.57	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Colombia	51.77	51.77	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
El Salvador	50.36	50.36	NA	NA	2009	OAS 2011[2]
Jamaica	47.44	47.44	NA	NA	2009	OAS 2011[2]
Honduras	46.70	46.70	NA	NA	2007	OAS 2011[2]
Guatemala	38.52	38.52	NA	NA	2009	OAS 2011[2]
Swaziland	37.16	37.16	NA	NA	2004	UNODC 2006[2]
Brazil	14.15	10.58	0.73	0.28	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Estonia	12.74	8.07	3.13	0.93	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Panama	12.92	12.92	NA	NA	2010	OAS 2011[2]
Mexico	12.07	9.88	0.91	1.27	1994	Krug 1998[3]
United States	10.27	4.14	5.71	0.23	2004-2006	CDC[4]
Philippines	9.46	9.46	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Argentina	9.19	2.11	3.05	0.32	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Paraguay	7.35	7.35	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Nicaragua	7.14	7.14	NA	NA	2007	OAS 2011[2]
Finland	6.86	0.86	5.78	0.12	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Northern Ireland	6.82	5.24	1.34	0.12	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Switzerland	6.4	0.58	5.61	0.13	1994	Krug 1998[3]
France	6.35	0.44	5.14	0.11	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Canada	4.78	0.76	3.72	0.22	1992	Krug 1998[3]
Zimbabwe	4.75	4.75	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Austria	4.56	0.42	4.06	0.05	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Norway	4.39	0.3	3.95	0.12	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Portugal	3.72	1.28	1.28	0.21	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Belgium	3.48	0.6	2.56	0.06	1990	Krug 1998[3]
Costa Rica	3.32	3.32	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Uruguay	3.24	3.24	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Slovenia	3.07	0.35	2.51	0.2	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Barbados	3	3	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Israel	3	0.72	1.84	0.13	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Italy	2.95	1.66	1.11	0.11	1992	Krug 1998[3]
Australia	2.94	0.44	2.35	0.11	1994	Krug 1998[3]
New Zealand	2.66	0.17	2.14	0.09	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Denmark	2.6	0.23	2.25	0.04	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Sweden	2.36	0.18	2.09	0.03	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Slovakia	2.17	2.17	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Peru	1.87	1.87	NA	NA	2009	OAS 2011[2]
Czech Republic	1.77	1.77	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Germany	1.57	0.22	1.17	0.04	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Greece	1.5	0.59	0.84	0.04	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Azerbaijan	2.38	1.47	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Republic of Macedonia	1.28	1.28	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Kuwait	1.25	0.36	0.06	0	1995	Krug 1998[3]
Hungary	1.21	0.23	0.88	0.09	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Ireland	1.21	0.03	0.94	0.11	1991	Krug 1998[3]
Latvia	1.2	1.2	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
India	0.93	0.93	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Spain	0.9	0.21	0.43	0.25	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Bulgaria	0.77	0.77	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Netherlands	0.7	0.36	0.31	0.01	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Scotland	0.58	0.19	0.33	0.02	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Moldova	0.47	0.47	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Lithuania	0.46	0.46	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Taiwan	0.42	0.13	0.12	0.11	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Belarus	0.38	0.38	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
Ukraine	0.35	0.35	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
Poland	0.29	0.29	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]
England/ Wales	0.46	0.07	0.33	0.01	2002	Krug 1998[3]
Singapore	0.24	0.07	0.17	0	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Hong Kong	0.19	0.12	0.07	0	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Mauritius	0.19	0	0.09	0.09	1993	Krug 1998[3]
Qatar	0.18	0.18	NA	NA	2000	UNODC 2000[1]
South Korea	0.13	0.04	0.02	0.05	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Japan	0.07	0.02	0.04	0	1994	Krug 1998[3]
Chile	0.06	0.06	NA	NA	2002	UNODC 2002[5]

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Sources

• (Krug 1998) EG Krug, KE Powell and LL Dahlberg. "Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle-income countries.", International Journal of Epidemiology 1998. [3] Statistics among 36 countries between 1990 and 1995.

• (UNODC 2002)The Eighth United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2001 - 2002). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2005.[5] This report provides more updated information on homicide by firearms, but not on suicide by firearms.
• (UNODC 2000)The Seventh United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (1998 - 2000). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2002.[1] This report provides more updated information on homicide by firearms, but not on suicide by firearms.

• (Barrow 2000) Greg Barrow. "SA gun deaths rise", BBC, 2000-02-15.[6]
• (Kaiser 2004) Deaths Due to Injury by Firearms per 100,000 Population, 2004. StateHealthFacts.org, 2008-04-08 [7]
• (GunCite 2008) International Homicide Comparisons. GunCite.com, 2008-04-08 [8]
• (CDC 2012) Fatal Injury Mapping (2004-2006). CDC.gov, 2012-02-05 [4]
• (GunPolicy 2012) Global Impacts of Gun Violence. GumPolicy.org, 2012-02-10 [2]

The figures are based mainly on surveys and reports by government agencies and subject to their reliability. In addition, the figures may vary significantly over the years due to changes in crime rate trend. The death rate is also sensitive to fluctuation if the absolute number of incidents is small and for countries with relatively small population such as Mauritius and Singapore

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There is a very significant advocacy for additional gun controls from hundreds of Mayors of American cities. The violence we see in urban areas as dangerous as it is, is now growing in rural areas, as I can attest to having seen some of the carnage during my time in West Virginia.