I am a gun owner. I am responsible, have a lot of training in the use and safe handling of pistols, rifles, and shotguns, and consider my right to own firearms something that it is my duty as a gun owner to uphold for my son. I take people who have never shot before to the range with me so that they can experience what I call the zen of target shooting. I can hit an apple at 100 yards over and over. Shooting is a part of my life that I do not want to lose.
However, I recognize that the cost of my free ownership of these firearms usually falls to others. Though I am responsible enough to be entrusted with these tools, there are many who are not. Those people use these tools to do terrible things that I would like to stop, not only for the simple humanity of the issue, but to stop the issue from reaching a boiling point at which I will lose more rights than I am willing to give freely in service of society.
In light of the reality of the situation I would like to hear sincere suggestions that I may consider in order to form my ongoing opinion on firearms law reform.
I do ask that in your suggestions that you consider the following:
You have been told a lot of facts about guns that may or may not be true. Please, if you are going to cite something, do your research as well. I would like this thread to be a wider discussion rather than a polemic bashing.
Never in the history of debate has it been respectable to not understand what you're talking about. I'm not referencing how effective certain gun reforms are, but simple terms like assault rifle, bolt-action, magazine, etc. Consider this a soft practice for arguing with someone you actually need to convince; if you say that an AR-15 is an assault rifle, you will lose credibility with your intended audience. The NRA loves it if you don't know what you're talking about.
So let me hear your best ideas. I would like to expand my horizons and I need your help.
EDIT: The NRA was right to warn me. You all just want to take my guns.