Restrict a gun model’s capacity

I am awed by the resilience of the survivors of last week’s mass shooting and I am inspired by their energy and drive to make a change to avoid future mass shootings. I have heard a lot of good ideas, including applying resources to identify, help and/or intervene with individuals who are a potential danger to others, mandatory universal background checks with a sound feeder system for information, and increasing the age limit for purchase of any firearms.

I have also listened to politicians who say that there are so many different highcapacity firearms out there and that manufacturers can make small changes to circumvent the law. My solution is rather simple — jettison the current language, which focuses on gun models, and instead place a limit on the capacity and firing rate of any civilian-owned firearms and associated clip/munition delivery devices.

It would be up to the people we elect as to what an acceptable capacity and rate would be, but it would greatly simplify the requirements that firearms manufacturers must comply with (giving them legal certainty, a continued market, and a clear legal standard to comply with) and eliminate the “change” loophole that some politicians have indicated that they are concerned about.

It would also allow for continued gun ownership for sport, hunting and selfdefense. Not perfect, but much better than the status quo.

Michael Ahern Blacklick