Every time there is any gun legislation the hue and cry about the 2nd Amendment starts. Redefine the problem to solve it.
The following lives on the White House Petition Site.
Create the 28th Amendment: Gun Ownership is a Privilege
It is pretty simple and over 2500 people have already stepped up.
The idea can be boiled down to "Trained, Sane, Able and Insured".
The idea is to allow people to own guns as long as they are trained to use them and keep them insured for liability.
If you want to equate Gun Ownership to Driving this may be a good way to do it. You get a renewable license where, theoretically, you are checked out to make sure you can still handle the object.
We don't let blind people drive - should blind people be pointing firearms?
If you have serious tremors that prevent you from steering a car properly - do you think you can aim a rifle long enough to properly acquire a target?
For many, the idea of the 2nd Amendment as a sacrosanct right is a religious experience. The problem is the 'Right' has already been reduced to a privilege. The moment an applicant fills out a form for a gun license to be processed for a background check - that is the moment Gun access ceases to be a right.
It is not much of a 'Right' if the government is already giving a thumbs-up or down on you. The Lanza kid in Sandy Hook should have walked out of the sporting goods store with his weapons if we all really had a 'Right' to bear arms.
It is time to call gun ownership what it is, and not some fantasy ideal.
The petition is open until the 23rd.