Despite being a lifelong gun-lover who owns many guns, I side with my Democratic friends that “something” must be done to reduce gun violence. However, stopping the flow of new weapons into our population is not likely, due the NRA hostages in Congress. We need to reverse the flow and remove guns from the population.

With a population of 335 million, we have almost 400 million guns, including 16 million AR-15’s that are already out there. Think about hugeness of those numbers! Sixteen million AR-15s! No reason to shut the barn door after the horse has already escaped?

I side with my Republican friends that existing laws need to be enforced . . . but with a vengeance! Examples would be mandatory jail-time for any crime with a gun, long mandatory jail-time for selling guns improperly without diligent background checks, and all guns must be registered with the local police and confiscation of all unregistered guns carried without a permit or used in a crime or discovered in cars. Of course, guns trading hands within a family would be permitted without background checks as long they are promptly re-registered. Australia has proved we can also reduce the number of guns and gun-violence by offering cash or tax credits for the guns. Remember: there will be no one thing, no one solution to this complex problem.

To all those paranoid gun owners out there who fear their weapons will be confiscated by jack-booted Federal officers, think about how that could possibly happen . It is so easy to hide guns behind drywall or to hide them in waterproof bags in the backyard or local woods. How many police officers would be shot as they tried to confiscate guns? How can you possibly find 400 million guns, especially if you have other crimes to solve. Mass confiscation will never happen. The task is just too massive. It is just another fear-tactic by the NRA.

With the NRA hostages in the Republican party, gun violence cannot be reduced at the Federal level, and I encourage kid-lovers to focus on the local level! Please become single-issue voters . . . please!

I agree that the Second Amendment no longer protects Americans from the American government or vice versa. It is both a joke and a travesty.

Now, I think I will find one of my guns, clean it and rub a light coat of machine oil on it, before hiding it again . . .