Time To Ban Automatic Weapons Of Any Kind From High Population Density Areas – OpEd

Even vociferous supporters of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including undersigned, no longer have an argument against an outright and blanket ban of any and all automatic weapons from high-population density areas of the United States of America, any longer after the horrific and inexplicable largest mass shooting in U.S. history in Las Vegas during the month of October 2017.

If one lone nut such as uber-vanilla Steven Paddock can take out thousands of innocent people murdering hundreds in his wake, then something drastic needs to be done, because this will only be the beginning, by terrorists both domestic and foreign.

Conspiracy theorists be damned – because the American people will still be able to own and sell automatic weapons in low density population areas of the United States, thus protecting their much prized “militia” movement to “safeguard their freedoms” from “new world order” types and “globalists” looking to “grab their guns.”

There are mechanisms which could theoretically strike a balance by and between the U.S. Constitution Second Amendment and Public Safety, however, and they need to be explored:

(1) most civilized nations throughout the world have mandatory and perfunctory metal detector apparatus systems at all entry ways into their facilities if they are close to high population density locations within their major cities;

(2) there should no longer be a distinction between “semi- automatic” versus “automatic” and “assault weapons” since these weapons can be easily altered/converted into one or another;

(3) life sentences should be handed down if one is found to be trafficking/selling/in possession of an automatic weapon in high population density areas;

(4) specific federal lawsuit legislation, criminal penalties, and legal causes of action should be enacted by Congress and the Senate against any and all facilities and executives (hotels, stadiums, etc) which have been found to have either housed or enabled sick demented killers like Steven Paddock from storing weapons or launching their mass killings, as well as similar penalties for immediate family members or friends who maybe have been aware of said planning or proclivity, in order to help bankrupt those entities which made it easier for these fiends to commit their crimes – this will undoubtedly help increase private security and reporting mechanisms in order to protect themselves from mass lawsuits, incarceration, and financial ruin;

(5) outright ban on automatic weapons sales at gun shows and other informal marketplaces and venues;

(6) automatic weapon registration with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in all 50 states, including where automatic weapons possession/sales are banned;

(7) limiting of all automatic weapons sales by U.S. and foreign manufacturers only to the U.S. Military and U.S. Government, including police and federal law enforcement;

(8) increase in automatic weapon detection apparatus and technology to “sniff out” any and all automatic weapons by law enforcement in the midst of any high population density community or population;

(9) new federal legislation against weapons manufacturers and sellers when their weaponry is found to have been used in a mass shooting, similar to the ITAR and AECA rules promulgated by the U.S. State Department punishing anyone (brokers, dealers, sellers, manufacturers) who was linked to weapons falling into the hands of international terrorist “end users,” regardless of whether or not their initial customers were law abiding individuals/entities;

(10) enlist gun rights lobbyists such as the NRA to help create, draft and enact said legislation so that it gets an official “seal of approval” from any potential enemies of these protective mechanisms.

The above are just some of the measures to ensure that no more mass shootings take place in the USA, but that also satisfy gun enthusiasts and proponents of the Second Amendment to help protect and safeguard people in their homes and their freedom from enemies, both foreign and domestic.