Just my two cents:

I love my family and friends. I would never want them to have a firsthand experience with someone engaged in gun violence. I believe that one person lost to gun violence is one too many. So, in my humble opinion, if you ever, truly want to minimize — because you will never conquer — gun violence, various state and federal agencies need to utilize the same protocols as I had to undergo in order to carry a gun for the government for 20-plus years.

They started out by calling everyone I knew: my former employers, my teachers, my minister, my neighbors, my family members, and my acquaintances to ascertain whether or not I might be a threat to others in any way. My past, or any negative past behaviors and any police involvement I may have had, as an applicant for a job that requires carrying a gun or multiple guns is also taken into account.

They didn’t just pass me a gun and say, “Here you go.” I also had to be interviewed by a superior law enforcement agent, a representative of their operations and personnel departments, and take an MMPI and polygraph testing to both measure my veracity and to ensure I wasn’t abnormal in my thinking.

Then, even though I had received extensive weapons training in the Marines, I still had to pass all aspects of their qualifications testing with firearms. I spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours qualifying and re-qualifying with my assigned guns to ensure that I was fully aware of how the gun operated, as well as the proper protocols for when to use the gun. Sometimes, my verbal de-escalation tactics, or pepper spray, handcuffs, or a baton may be a better alternative; I went through exhaustive training to know the differences of when and when not to engage the use of my gun.

Owning a gun and being responsible are synonymous. You must learn that there are great responsibilities that go along with the ability to own a gun. People should be willing to undergo the scrutiny of law enforcement to insure that not just any whack-a-doodle is running around the streets armed and dangerous.

I believe that the information gathering stage prior to authorizing the purchase of a gun needs to be vastly improved. I am 100 percent pro-Second Amendment. But I’m also in favor of not having the knucklehead next door who has no experience with guns, and doesn’t both confirm his target or where is bullets may go after they leave the barrel of his gun, having access to such a dangerous tool.

It is imperative that anyone who desires to own a gun have required training and understanding of when and where it is appropriate to resort to a gun for the protection of self and others. And although there are still many rustic areas in America remaining, this isn’t the Wild West anymore. At least not where I live.

More can and should be done, not to infringe of on the right of people to own a gun, but to ensure that before you can own a gun you are competent to do so without being a danger to yourself and others.

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