I’ve been trying to write this post since last evening, since the most recent mass shooting. I recite a response in my head, over and over again but cannot put my feelings into mere words. When the Ebola crisis struck we had an immediate government and healthcare response. There is more outrage over undocumented immigrants than the number of people killed by guns. Don’t quote to me that more cars kill people then guns. Tell me when the last time a car was used with the intent to kill a classroom of children?

I’m so angry at the senselessness of violence.  I am so enraged that the first response from gun activists is not, holy crap how could this have happened (AGAIN) but instead it’s not the gun’s fault! Gun Control would not have stopped this heinous act.

I live in a state that is ranked the 3^rd highest of having the strictest gun laws. It still took me less time, money and effort to obtain my gun license then my driver’s license. It is infuriating to me when the knee-jerk response to gun control is don’t you dare infringe on my 2^nd Amendment. The Government infringes on just about every aspect of our lives. Why the heck is the 2^nd Amendment the only one that is held to a different standard? We have common sense Amendments that failed ratification, like child labor. That seems like a no brainer, right? But unfortunately child labor does not seem as important as protecting that 2^nd Amendment.

The 1^st Amendment (Freedom of Speech, Religion, the Press and Assembly) is infringed upon all the time. Ask any reporter how often stories are embargoed until given the go-ahead by our government. Your own personal speech is infringed on, you are not allowed to scream FIRE in a crowded restaurant, you are not allowed to slander and you are not allowed to spew hate speech.

The 5^th Amendment (Right to Own Property) could be considered infringed upon since 9/11 and the changes Homeland Security have wrought in the motions you must go through and information you provide in order to own your home. It should be more difficult to own a gun, something that can kill, than a home, something that can provide safe haven.

I am not saying we should ban guns, not in any way shape or form. I am not suggesting that the 2^nd Amendment be nullified.  I am shouting from my heart that as a responsible gun owner, I have to be just that: responsible and realize that weak gun control has devastating consequences. The 2^nd Amendment must be held to the same standards as all of the Amendments and subjected to government laws and regulations.

It should have been more than a 2 hour class, followed by an application and background check for me to obtain my license to carry. I should have had other testing cognitive, mental and whatever else makes sense.  I should have been made to demonstrate to the officer that interviewed me that I knew how to handle a firearm.

Why are gun laws not universal? I want to know why every state is not following California gun control laws and from there improving as needed. In Wisconsin you not only do not need a gun license or permit. In too many states there is no law against a minor possessing a gun (they just cannot purchase without their parent’s consent). A minor can walk into a gun store in Utah and purchase a gun, as long as someone who looks like their parent is with them.

There should be, must be, universal laws to possess and purchase a firearm. Why are we letting lobbyist speak for us? This is why I refuse to join the NRA. I am willing to work with my government for laws that make sense when it comes to the 2^nd Amendment. I am willing to do make it more difficult for me to purchase a gun in order to save one life.

If you feel the 2^nd Amendment allows you to own a tank or Uzi just because the government has one, fine. But tell me you believe you have that same right to have a Stealth bomber because the government has one as well. Better yet, tell me you want health insurance the government workers possess. That is something I will rally with you. But wait, you were against Obamacare, right?

The next time there is a mass shooting, wait not even a mass shooting… The next time there is a person killed with a gun I want you to ask yourself, would I really be inconvenienced if there was a background check every time I had to purchase a gun?

Responsible gun ownership means that you don’t buy a gun on a whim. You research it, you save for it and then you purchase it.  There is no hardship of waiting 72 hours (or more) for a background check to be performed.  It does not infringe on your 2nd Amendment. However it does reinforce the Preamble of our Constitution:

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

How about we work together at forming a more perfect Union and promote the general welfare?