As a responsible gun owner, I am a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. If an intruder comes into my home, you better believe I will defend my wife and son by any means necessary, including using Florida's "stand your ground" law. But we can't let the Republican Party and the NRA keep winning gun control battles in the wake of tragedies like the Aurora killings and Sikh temple massacre. I really don't understand people who oppose stricter requirements for obtaining a firearm. These are the same folks who believe in communist ideals such as gay-marriage bans and denying a woman's right to have an abortion. They care more about their ideology than the good of the republic.
Current gun laws certainly aren't stopping ruthless convicts from murdering innocents in inner-city communities such as Liberty City and Opa-locka. Getting guns is nothing like you'd think from shows such as Sons of Anarchy, where arms-dealing motorcycle gangs sell weapons to African-American bangers. It's a lot less complicated.
Instead, straw buyers with no felony convictions purchase the guns that end up in the hands of criminals terrorizing Miami-Dade public housing projects. It could be the criminal's baby mama. It could be a cousin who moved out of the hood. Or it could be a crackhead junkie who has yet to be tagged with a coke conviction.
The straw buyer hands the weapon to the felon and later reports it stolen. Law enforcement agencies need to focus resources on investigating people who make these false reports. If a guy has reported 12 stolen guns, you should know something is wrong.
We should treat anybody who wants to buy a gun the same way Gov. Rick Scott treats welfare recipients. Potential gun owners should be required to pee in a cup. Someone who is popping antidepressants or snorting cocaine cannot be trusted with a gun. Once they've passed their drug test, they should have to take a psychiatric test.
These measures will go a long way to preventing more crazy gunmen like Aurora mass murderer James Holmes, racist Milwaukee killer Wade Michael Page, and Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford's shooter, Jared Loughner, from going on rampages.
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.
