Question of the Month: What Action Can We Take to Thwart Future Gun Violence Events?

We have over 400 million guns for 320 million inhabitants. Access to guns is easy even for young people. While I wish we could outlaw automatic weapons like AK 15 and the Midnight Special easily acquired in every community immediately – that may prove difficult in our culture because of the 2nd Amendment and the right to carry weapons. However, there is nothing in the 2nd amendment that says you cannot regulate weapons.

To drive a car, we need to pass a written and physical driving test, register the car every year, pay a fee for the registration, and make sure the vehicle is insured. Traffic laws have to be obeyed and when violated, the offenders are heavenly fined. Often, we refer to automobiles as “a weapon”, especially in the hands of young teenagers or drunk drivers.

Sane gun laws, in addition to universal background checks, need to register every weapon and make certain that it is in the ownership of responsible adults who are properly trained in its operation and safely stored in a locked case. When an unregistered gun is found, it needs to be immediately confiscated and the owner heavily fined. Gun manufacturers and retailers must be made accountable when sales are made to unqualified, scrupulous buyers and also heavily fined for overlooking this occurrence.

We can even create a positive impact with the process by restoring justice to the communities harmed in ways that begin to balance the destruction with positive actions. For example, the fines collected could be distributed to the victims of gun violence and provide assistance to them in whatever their needs are. This is the responsibility of civil society – which we pride ourselves to be, though we still witness these atrocities too frequently.

We do not need to create a new bureaucracy. There is a DMV in every community and adding a couple more windows to deal with weapon registration can be easily and economically administered.

Lastly – we need to learn lessons from our neighbors like Canada, and more poignantly Australia, which at one time had a similar culture to ours when it came to weapons. Australia has successfully enacted sane gun laws and saved the lives of its citizens from senseless execution. Many countries like the UK, Japan, and others have tackled the problem — so the solutions exist. The question I ask is: Does our will to be better and actually reform gun violence exist? Do your part to move us forward in a compassionate way so we don’t have to go through another Sandy Hook or Uvalde. The time is NOW!

Here is what TKF is doing: Offering Resources and Education like The Greater Good Resources (click link) and content for educators and families. As a whole, TKF continues to teach and promote our Safe School Model to stop violence at the youth level and promote peace for our youth. Starting at a young age helps prevent crime in teen and young adult years and sets an example of peacebuilding for society. The growing programs offered by TKF are robust and I encourage you to look into them yourself.

TKF has successfully taught accountability, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, and peacebuilding for the past 25+ years. It is my personal conviction, having given over 1,000 presentations to students, that these valuable attributes are not only teachable – our children and youth are hungry for them. Come support and join us!