Letter: Concrete solutions to gun violence

We have heard and felt the horror of the recent gun violence here in the U.S. What we haven’t heard is concrete proposals for specific actions. Let me share my thoughts.

1. I thought that it was illegal to sell, buy, or own “automatic weapons” ... those that continue to fire with a single trigger pull. Weapons are OK if one trigger pull fires one bullet. If this is the case, why doesn’t the government (federal and local) approach all dealers, sellers and manufacturers who make to sell in the U.S. and confiscate all automatic weapons and prosecute those persons/businesses? In addition, if gun owners are found with such weapons, they should be charged and prosecuted.

2. Solicit information from anyone/everyone who has knowledge or suspicions of impending terrorist/hate/or other such crimes and let it be known if a person has such information and withholds it from the authorities (federal, state or local law enforcement) that person can and will be charged as an accessory to the crime.

3. Establish a federal database (made current and inclusive) of all persons to whom firearms should not be sold or persons not acceptable to own or have possession of these firearms. This data should be made easily available to all law agencies.

This in essence is an attempt to clear the pipeline of illegal weapons, to obtain information on potential threats, and to collect illegal/non-acceptable possession of firearms.

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Letter: Concrete solutions to gun violence."