I have a suggestion for liberal anti-second amendment advocates like the “Mayor’s Council on Gun Violence” that would definitely reduce the number of senseless gun related homicides in the United States: A new big government federal regulation that prohibits people from owning a firearm if they don’t pay income taxes or if they receive federal or state entitlements. We could call it the Responsible Taxpayer Gun Rights Act of 2013.
“Be it known from this day forward that in these United States on this day those citizens who live off the taxpayer will no longer enjoy the Second Amendment protections of the U.S. Constitution.”
Or something like that. Forgive my sarcasm, but humor me. Let’s give the liberals what they want. Let us all come together and agree to reduce the number of gun related deaths in America and work toward liberal utopia. I mean if we are going to trample on the U.S. Constitution and allow our elected officials to regulate the Second Amendment to service liberal causes, why not act in a fiscally responsible way?
As it is with most senseless gun violence the overwhelming majority of gun related civilian and law enforcement deaths occur in U.S. cities. Not only is our gun violence emotionally devastating, but it is also burdens our society with incalculable costs for enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration. If our national leaders desire to reduce gun violence in America we should first look at where it is epidemic and develop common sense regulations designed to reduce access to weapons by people who are perpetrating these acts in those areas. Right?
If we the people limited gun ownership to those of us who pay for our federal governments operations, deficits, and debt through income taxes and removed (albeit temporarily and by their own choice) the rights of individuals to own and bear arms who live off the tax payer, I would argue we would reduce gun related crimes, deaths, and costs significantly.
Almost immediately tens of millions of American owned guns would be removed from our inner cities under penalty of imprisonment and New York City Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Chuck Schumer could sleep better at night knowing fewer guns in their city means less crime. Heck let’s throw in a free laptop with every gun surrendered. That ought to make the Mayors on the bus happy. It sounds far-fetched but an idea like this would either shut up anti-gun advocates or serve as a foundation for solving our gun crime problem.
According to liberals, Americans need to pay their fair share of taxes to support less fortunate America’s quality of life; so it isn’t much of a stretch to ask that those who can’t take care of themselves be restricted from killing us and/or each other. Or is it? Why are law abiding citizens once again about to be penalized for the actions of those among us who may thrive on violence as a necessary part of their culture? If safer streets and communities are what liberals are really after why wouldn’t they consider gun ownership a “privileged” right of sorts reserved for productive Americans? After all how does a family of four living at 185% of poverty level afford an assault style weapon? What’s more important to Americans, your freebies or your constitutionally protected gun rights?
Consider the immediate decrease in entitlement recipients and the overnight decrease in deficit spending. Heck entitlement reform through attrition might become a reality. And for those who choose to remain government dependent, well, you’ll just have to manage without a gun. The inner city law enforcement community would rejoice. Morgues would have welcomed vacancies and Barack Obama would make history as the first black President to reduce our budget deficits and murder rate with the stroke of a pen.
We could have a National Taxpayer Card (NTC) issued by the IRS just like the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards given to entitlement recipients. Except the NTC would be required to own or purchase a firearm. No more need for complicated background check or concealed carry licenses. You pay you play. All private and public sales of firearms would require seller and holder to have a valid NTC card for the transaction to be legal. Violation of the “Responsible Taxpayer Gun Rights Act of 2013” would carry 10 year mandatory federal prison sentence, lifetime prohibition from participation in government entitlements and loss of gun rights in perpetuity.
If this sounds like a laughable pipe dream, consider it’s a heck of a lot more logical then any gun law currently being developed. For those who desire anonymity as a right for gun owners let me suggest they already know you own them and if they want to come get them they will. If the goal of gun regulation is to reduce murders by keeping guns out of the hands of criminals this humorous suggestion is worthy of consideration.
Even Al Sharpton would have a hard time arguing against this. Wink! Wink!