Thinking way outside the box on gun control

So one of my favorite hobbies is to deconstruct problems that the nation as a whole is facing, and come up with kind of "moon-shot" ideas to fix them. Solutions that approach the problems from a toy different direction than the left-vs-right stuff that we hear constantly going back and forth. Right now, our is faced with a major crisis in the form of mass shootings, and because any sort of action to limit firearms sales is anathema to gun manufacturers (therefore the NRA, therefore all NRA members, and all NRA-supported politicians), we have been placed in a logjam on what to do with them. My idea to help resolve this is one that goes out of its way to keep people who are self-professed defenders of the Second Amendment happy, while also providing a significant barrier to entry for gun owners. The key is that it's a barrier that can be overcome by the same people that can legally own guns today.

Originally, the idea was to go back to the roots of the Second Amendment, the way it was originally written into the Constitution. "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." This actually seems like a pretty good idea to me, and it got me thinking: why don't we actually have a civilian militia? I mean, we have the National Guard, but they're far closer to being part of the Military than a civilian organization. They're paid for their time, they're expected to stay in-shape, they have to go through basic, etc. So my initial idea was to patch together such a group; one that could respond to local emergencies, and act as reliable witnesses for police. My proposal was that once this group has been created, we tie firearm ownership to being a member-in-good-standing for this militia, who doesn't accept minors, convicted felons, domestic abusers, and people with specific kinds of mental health histories (the same people who are currently prohibited from owning guns).

After a little digging, I actually found out such a group already exists, and they handle all the things that I wanted to add to my little militia idea. They're called C.E.R.T., the Community Emergency Response Team, and they're handled by F.E.M.A. (check out their Wikipedia entry at the bottom of my post for more information on what they do). I had never actually heard of this group before, probably because I live in a town where nothing ever really happens. That being said, C.E.R.T. would still need some expansion before it meets the needs of the idea at hand, but they already have an existing framework to build off of, which cuts down on a lot of steps that I was thinking of.

In order to qualify for this "well regulated Militia" status, I feel that C.E.R.T. needs to add three classes to its certification course: Responsible Firearm Custody, Incident Reporting, and Diversity. The first, Responsible Firearm Custody is effectively a gun safety and secure storage course, but with more emphasis on knowing when to leave your gun locked in its safe, and what few, rare circumstances it's ok to draw it in. Incident Reporting is a two-fold course: first of all, it's how to properly report an incident that you've witnessed to the authorities. More importantly though, it's a way to spot red flags when it comes to people who may be about to perform an act of violence, so that hopefully it can be prevented, and not just reacted to. Remember, everybody who wants to legally own a gun must be a member of one of these groups, so teaching them to spot warning signs will also become a method of self-policing. Finally, because of the Incident Reporting class, there should also be mandatory Diversity training, to prevent the C.E.R.T. from just racially profiling or otherwise discriminating.

Once C.E.R.T. has been elevated as I have outlined, we then simply make it a requirement to be a member in good standing of this group if you want to own your own firearm. Good standing should not simply be a matter of paying dues. There should be bi-monthly to monthly meetings and/or community projects to which attendance should be mandatory. This gives all the members a chance to interact, and to use their Incident Reporting training to see any red flags other members may be giving off. If a member ever falls out of good standing, they temporarily have their firearm privileges suspended, and must forfeit their guns to their C.E.R.T. team leader until they attend three more meetings in a row. The gun is still under their ownership, and if they want to sell it, the C.E.R.T. can act as an intermediary for passing the gun off to its new owner.

This way, I think if not everybody is happy, at least a lot of them are. The conservatives get to keep their guns, I and the rest of the liberals get stronger barriers to entry, and everybody gets a bunch of community members who are invested in helping their neighbors, whether it's an emergency or not.

What do you guys think? Let me know!

[en.wikipedia.org]