In that we're coming down to the wire here, I'm going to have to be briefer with this issue articles. So expect them to be shorter. Next up is gun control. Where do I stand on it? You might be surprised...

A lot of people assume because I'm a humanist I think that nobody should own guns. That's not exactly true. I wish nobody owned guns, but our Constitution guarantees the right to own a gun to our citizenry so I have to respect that right. And I do. I only ask that people take the necessary precautions with their weapons... if you own a weapon, you own additional responsibilities (i.e. keep it locked up, unloaded, away from kids, and store the ammo in a separate location). Don't like that? Tough. That aside there are some definite gun control measures I agree with.

Background Checks ... Even at Gun Shows

Opponents of any sort of gun controls love to use the argument that criminals don't acquire weapons from legitimate dealers or at gun shows. Tell that to the Columbine kids. Background checks are a good idea, any decent law abiding gun owner is not going to be denied a gun because his background check will come back clean. The argument that it is an invasion of privacy just doesn't wash with me. You're not buying soda pop, you're buying a lethal weapon.

Waiting Periods

People who are pissed off at somebody shouldn't be able to go buy a gun that same day. A guy who's just discovered his wife in bed with his best friend shouldn't be able to walk to the corner gun store and pick up a new pistol. Waiting periods are a good idea. If you want a pistol for legitimate reasons, there should be no reason why you can't order it 10 days in advance.

Gun Locks / Safety Features

Most (if not all) gun manufacturers have agreed to supply gun locks with their pistols. Some are better than others. Such safety features are a good idea if they prevent unauthorized use of or accidental firing of a pistol. The downside to gun owners of course is that if they need access to their pistol in an emergency they don't want to be fumbling around with a lock. Fortunately there are multiple varieties of gun locks and some are faster to deal with than others. One uses a magnetized ring that you must wear on a finger of the hand holding the gun. As long as you have the ring on, the gun is unlocked. Set the gun down and it locks automatically.

Assault Weapons Ban

The House, Senate, Republicans and Democrats, and especially the President should hang their heads in shame that this was allowed to expire. The public supports the assault weapons ban by more than a 2 to 1 margin, and good luck finding a police officer who thinks this ban is a bad idea. The president loves to sit around now and say "Hey if it had shown up on my desk I'd have signed it." The truth is if the President had made one phone call to a contact in the Senate or the House and said "I want the ban" we would have the ban.