Second Amendment

• Limit magazine purchases to one per year per gun.
• Reduce magazine capacity.
• Make CCWs required to carry in public.
• Assume social responsibility as gun owners.

I am a gun owner and have a CCW (concealed carry). I have a 9mm, shotgun, and a bolt action rifle. I have designed tech for guns in an effort to make them safer and reduce school shootings. I support protecting our right to own guns. 

For those who think it’s terrible to own firearms, I got my gun to protect my family. A neighbor who lived behind me threatened to kill my son, followed by the racial epithets and slurs. I called the police and he was arrested. But they can’t materialize at 2 a.m. if he decides to break in.

I got my CCW for the same reason I have Black Lives Matter on the back of my motorcycle. A man tried to hit my son and me multiple times with his vehicle. I escaped, called the police, and they wouldn’t investigate. I needed to protect my son and myself, so I got my CCW.

With that said, we need gun reform. The Second Amendment says “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Regulation is not just allowed by the amendment — it is expected. 

I used to own extended magazines. As mass shootings continued, I couldn’t, in good conscience, keep them because of their potential to hurt people. 

The data shows that most defensive shootings happen within 20 feet, with 1–3 shots fired. With this knowledge, why do we need 20-round magazines? Plain and simple: we don’t. If you need 20 rounds to put three on target, on behalf of the American people, please do not carry. 

There is no practical reason to own an assault rifle as a citizen. They are incredible pieces of technology but their only practical use is for offensive shooting. That’s it. As gun owners, we need to acknowledge that while we wouldn’t use them for evil, others will. And one day, it might be someone you love who loses their life because a weapon of war was used on American soil. 

Some will argue for citizen ownership of assault rifles as protection from the government. Quite frankly, battles are no longer won by numbers; they are won by technology. And the technology wielded by the federal government outmatches any number of assault rifles. Some will argue, then, for ownership as protection from foreign invasion. Once again, the technology of the U.S. military is significantly stronger than the firearms owned by citizens, and the military will protect the nation from foreign enemies.

With regulation, we have a couple of options to consider. Some want a ban on assault rifles, which most gun owners oppose. If we don’t come to the table with some solutions, that‘s exactly what could happen. 

Semi-automatic guns need magazines to work. Those are not currently regulated, so we must start tracking magazines. If we only allow the purchase of one magazine per year per registered gun, it will take someone with ill intentions significantly longer to get the items needed to commit a mass shooting. There is no need for extended magazines, so by cutting down the number of rounds, we will save lives if a tragedy occurs. Limiting magazine capacity will provide an opportunity to escape or fight back during the reload. Banning high-capacity magazines reduces the number and lethality of mass shootings. This compromise will allow citizens to own these firearms while ensuring common-sense, protective measures.

States getting rid of concealed carry permits should have lawsuits brought against them. Shootings have already increased. 

Removing CCWs puts police and citizens in danger. Now, every stop is a potentially-violent interaction because police don’t know who has a gun and who doesn’t. If anyone could have a gun, the police can’t know who the perpetrator is. Tragically, this isn’t hypothetical. After a man shot an active shooter, he was then killed by police while attempting to disarm the gunman. More people are going to get hurt and killed. Deregulating something with the power to kill only helps those who wish to do harm. 

As gun owners, we need to step up and take on some social responsibility. If you disagree with my ideas, I invite you to discuss your proposed solutions with me. We must do something to end the epidemic of violence. We must be part of the solution, not the problem.