Ross: We don’t need gun control — we need shooter control

It’s tough to get something like the Boulder shooting out of your head, especially when you read about the victims and realize how random it was, and how it could have been any of us.

People just shopping, store clerks, a photographer, one person waiting in line for a vaccination – all suddenly gone because of one angry and disturbed person who was allowed to arm himself.

After I talked last week about how gun shops should at least get a heads up when someone like this is running free, I got a note from a listener who said: “We don’t need gun control, we need idiot control.”

So I asked him to tell me more. And just so you know, many times when I ask for solutions, people go ballistic or go silent. But Harry answered. He said that in the Boulder case, the background check didn’t work because the only thing in the shooter’s file was a misdemeanor assault conviction from high school.

Maybe what we need to do, he said, is expand the violations that prevent you from buying a gun, so that a high school conviction would count. Maybe include convictions for rioting and even vandalism, he suggested.

I could go for that, because now we’re getting to the heart of the issue. We are identifying the people who have trouble managing their anger. I’m not saying round them up. I’m just saying don’t arm them.

But Harry sent another email that went even further:

1. Anyone merely charged with any level of assault loses their firearm rights
2. Same for anyone charged with DUI
3. And a plea bargain cannot be used to restore those rights

He also suggested no gun sales to anyone without a permanent address.

What this tells me is that I have at least one listener who, while he is dead set against gun control, is ready to put serious restrictions on a lot of the people who now have legal access to those uncontrolled guns.

I’m just hoping he’s not the only one.

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