Unlike most gun control advocates I’ll spell out my position clearly; I want to see a national grace period of 2-3 years for buy backs, at reasonable value, of all firearms belonging to any citizen who is not directly involved in law enforcement or enrolled in the armed forces. After that grace period I want to see a heavy fine, of at least $10,000 penalized on anyone who is caught violating these new prerequisites for gun ownership. I want to see that the only manufacturing of firearms is done under strict government control, in one guarded location, for sale only to one government agency, which distributes these firearms, in a highly controlled manner to law enforcement and military agencies. I want a federal law, which criminalizes the exportation of firearms to any other nation, either by congress, the pentagon, or covert intelligence agencies.
It was eighteen years ago I was in high school myself. I was known to be violent -- some had called me "evil." A mean spirited and aggressive teenager who carried a bowie knife strapped on his leg, and engaged in fights on an almost weekly basis. Mostly I never used my knife, and I never wanted to kill anyone at the time, just hurt my enemies;
Then, to my shocking discovery on December 22nd of 1992, my sister's 19 year old distraught ex- boyfriend, took his father's .38 caliber handgun, drove to my sister's home, went inside and shot her dead - killing her instantly and making a horrific mess of blood and brain tissue in her bedroom.
When I think of this boy I think of the meaning of COWARDICE, and the ease of availability of firearms in houses and at sporting goods stores and gun shows throughout Ohio and the rest of our country. ..Something obviously has to be done -- real answers are needed for immediate effect.