What we need to do about guns

It is time to have a national conversation about gun control.  Here's what we should do.

First, ban assault weapons.  There's no reason for private citizens to have access to military grade weapons.

It also makes sense to me to ban high-capacity magazines.  If you can't kill your deer in 10 rounds without re-loading, perhaps you should go back to the target range and improve your skills.

If you've been convicted of a felony, you shouldn't be able to buy guns or ammunition.  Of course, this implies that we have criminal background checks in place, and that we close the gun show loopholes.

Gun ownership should require registration, and this registration should be current to purchase ammunition.  The registration should be renewed annually.  The renewal should require demonstration of basic skills, like a certificate from a gun safety class.

Public Policy Poling recently tested these ideas, and found overwhelming public support.

Beyond what was polled by PPP, I also think we should do the following:

Ownership should also require insurance, just like for driving your car.  The insurance would be to protect owners and victims from injury, death or property damage resulting from gun use.

Finally, there should be a tax on the sale of guns and ammunition.  The National Shooting Sports Foundation (www.nssf.org) estimates that consumers spend $27.8 billion annually on guns, ammunition and other equipment.  If we added a 2% tax, that would raise 556 million annually.  This money should be used to support victims of gun violence.