Daily News Cover - Says it all

[Francis Booth]

41. I know how you feel. Sandy Hook was a turning point for me. I thought 'surely

we'll be able to act in a meaningful way, now', but I was wrong.

Every time I see one of the Sandy Hook parents, I feel the sick emptiness that they must feel after such unimaginable, unbearable loss. The most precious thing in the world, a child, ripped from this life for absolutely no reason at all.

I don't know - maybe you have to be a parent to relate fully to the magnitude of that horror.

Anyway, here's my proposal... I don't hold any realistic expectations that this would or could ever happen, but I believe it's what must happen to reduce these horrific mass shootings. The way I see it, the gun is nearly irrelevant - it's the large amount of ammo that can be fired quickly. So don't ban the guns; ban the magazines.

1. Ban the manufacture and possession of magazines in excess of 5 rounds. Limit the possession of magazines to exactly (2) per firearm. If you're caught with a high-capacity magazine, you go to jail for one year. People who enjoy their AR and AK type rifles get to keep them, but you don't get to carry 500 rounds of ammo around with you. If you can't defend your home or shoot that varmint with 10 shots, you probably aren't qualified to own a gun anyway.

2. Handguns - same principle. Semi-auto handguns limited to 5 rounds and 2 magazines per weapon. You get caught with more than 10 rounds on your person, you go to jail for a year. Everyone gets to keep their pistol of choice for self-defense, but you only get 10 rounds to walk around with.

This won't immediately stop a mass shooter, since they're not usually deterred by fear of punishment, but it would begin to get the high-capacity magazines out of circulation.

3. Change the culture. Modify the HIIPA laws to make it easier for health care providers, even family physicians, to notify the local Chief of Police when individuals are suffering from anger management issues, severe depression, drug abuse, etc. Give the local police broader powers to temporarily confiscate firearms when there are warning bells going off. In Massachusetts, guns are immediately confiscated whenever a restraining order is issued. Somehow this kid in Oregon was able to legally amass over a dozen weapons, and I predict we'll soon learn that at least several people were comcermed about his anti-social tendencies. Yes, privacy will take a hit, but people have the right to not be in fear when going to school or to the movies.

More culture change - let's treat parents who let children under 14 play violent video games like GTAV as abusive. You wouldn't let your 14 year old drive around beating women and running over babies, so why would you let them simulate it with such realism?

I don't think we can do anything overnight that will end these mass shootings, but I believe these steps will be effective over time in reducing them.