Doctor's In: On Sensible Gun Control

As a follow-up to my most recent post concerning the need for adequate mental health resources (see prior blog),  I now suggest the need for serious gun safety legislation.  It has never been a valid argument to claim "Guns don't kill people, people do." 

That has long been the rallying cry of gun rights extremists.  I'm sorry - guns do kill people!  I do argue that mental health services is the elephant in the room  relating to violent tragedies like Newtown, CT.  However, there are simply too many guns in the hands of unstable and untrained people and restrictions are necessary to make our communities safer. 

This is not about our rights this is about saving serious injury and lives. I suggest the following:

• No person should have any firearm without a comprehensive background check.
• No person should have a firearm without an approved certificate from a gun safety program.
• Assault rifles should be banned from public ownership.Penalties should be severe for anyone having weapons without meeting the above requirements.

Gun lovers can gnash their teeth and whine about the second amendment but that's the way it should be for the safety of the general public.  There simply have been too many preventable tragedies.  Enough is enough!