The most efficient, effective way to control guns begins and ends with controlling ammunition.
World War II taught us that if you want to stop tanks from moving toward your troops, don't try to capture or destroy them -- cut off their fuel supply. Make them inoperable. The same simple logic can be applied to gun control in America.
It's unrealistic to think we can get the estimated 300 million guns off the streets and out of the hands of people who want to do mass harm. It's arguably unfair to take guns away from hunters and those responsible gun owners who feel (although I do not agree with them) that they need guns for protection. There are also those who want to skeet shoot and use guns for sport (an inane notion in my mind but to each his own, provided they do it responsibly).
Lawful gun owners, by in large, are not the ones who endanger the masses of us. The ones who use massive amounts of ammo against innocents do. Guns don't kill people, bullets do. If we used law enforcement venues (precincts, stations and offices) to regulate gun owners' access to ammunition, we would greatly limit the unstable person determined to commit mass murder. Let Wal-Mart and the hunting stores and the gun shops sell all the guns they want. Simply make it illegal for them to sell ammunition.
Require gun owners to log on to a centralized government website to order their ammo, then pick it up at their local police stations, sheriff's departments, or state trooper's offices, the only places where anyone can legally buy ammunition. Put limits on how much ammunition can be purchased at any given time, and over any given period. Keep a national "Ammo Depot" -- a database of ammunition purchased by gun owner. The government limits how much Sudafed a person can buy, why not bullets? If you're a hunter or need bullets for "protection," this provision shouldn't bother you in the least. In fact, it should make you feel even safer knowing that the bad guys can't get more ammo than you.
If you want a driver's license in the United States, you must go to the Department of Motor Vehicles. You also must visit the DMV to register your vehicle and get your license plates. Why not create a similar system for the sale and distribution of ammunition by law enforcement? On the surface it may seem like a huge undertaking, but the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
One upside of controlling access to ammunition rather than gun control is that the National Rifle Association and 2nd Amendment proponents won't have much of a leg to stand on. Ammunition regulations won't limit a person's right to bear arms whatsoever. Instead, it will greatly decrease the chances of mass murder.
We can also consider real legislation about what types of ammunition are sold. Do you want purchase bullets designed to be used in assault rifles for killing human beings? Sorry, but you can't buy those anymore, even if you just want to get your thrills by shooting them off in at a gun range. No more hollow point mass of death metal that's primary purpose is to rip the insides out of whomever it strikes.
There's also a very important revenue stream to consider. Local, state and federal governments can profit from the sale of ammunition, helping bring new money into our struggling economies. Further, we could choose to open the door to "sin" taxes, much like the ones we put on liquor and cigarettes. We're not impeding anyone's 2nd Amendment rights, after all. We're just doing what's in the masses' common good.
For "responsible" gun owners, ammunition control by law enforcement should be a welcome compromise. The argument has always been that control laws only affect responsible gun owners. The bad guys would still find a way to get their guns. The control of ammo by law enforcement will serve as a deterrent to criminals, not to the law abiding among us. We can regulate the sale of it in a way that will prevent mass murderers from executing heinous crimes while keeping responsible gun owners content if not completely happy. True, the average armed robber might be able to get enough bullets for his weapon, but the chances of an emotionally unbalanced person getting a hold of 800 rounds would be nearly if not completely impossible.
As for those who say we can't turn our police departments into retail shops for ammo, why not? We're a smart, creative nation of big thinkers. Certainly our leaders can figure out sensible ways whereby police, sheriffs and state troopers can lead the distribution of ammunition.
The safety benefits of ammunition control are priceless. Law enforcement will get to screen the ammunition applicants first hand. Officers are trained to see threats, and will be in great position to do so. And talk about a deterrent! The person who wants to use his or her gun to break a law or laws might think twice before going to the police department and standing in front of video cameras to request 300 rounds of ammo for his .45.
We can take real steps to avoid the mass murdering of innocent Americans.
The best way to control guns is not simply more gun control laws. We need to control the bullets.
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I trained and used the 'old' 20 rounders and still like and use them.
And all things considered I rather have the police solving crimes instead of selling ammo.
How will that law regulate that?
You do know that one of the primary reasons hollow points are used by police is because they're unlikely to go through a target and hit someone else, or ricochet off a wall and hit an innocent bystander, right? In a home defense situation with other people and/or animals, they're the *safer* bullet.
Of course, they're also widely used in hunting, depending on the weapon used and the type of game hunted, and they're considered a lot more humane than solid points: a quick, humane kill, lessening the chance the prey will be able to get away, and then slowly die after escaping.
Plus, you know, it's not all that difficult to cast your own bullets, so not sure how effective that ban is gonna be.
Ammunition control on certain types of rounds (hollow-points or armor-piercing rounds) seems reasonable to me. Either a tax stamp or some form of registration would probably be fine. There's no reason to outlaw them entirely -- after all, if I'm carrying a handgun because I deliver pizza in a bad section of town, I want whatever bullet will stop a mugger most rapidly and effectively. But there's no need to have a large number of them, and so I can afford a premium.
Quantity of ammo is a tricky subject. If a group of guys want to go out to some farmland and set up a practice range, they could easily burn through 1000 rounds in a day. Obviously they won't be purchasing hollow-point ammo for that. But there's no reason to make something like that prohibitively difficult. After all, we WANT responsible gun owners to be good shots.
We would have to make sure it was shall-issue, though....can't have police departments arbitrarily shutting down ammunition sales.
Stop making idiotic suggestions and maybe we can get somewhere.
This invalidates everything else you posted and proposed. In addition, you propose to use scarce police resources to undertake what you admit is a limited retail operation while instituting another large goverment bureaucracy to track ammunition sales. This is just about as stupid an idea as I have heard lately given the current state of our economy and the out-of-control spending at the Federal level.
ECS
Are you seriously going to start a case of what the Supreme Court has already judged on the 2nd Amendment (District of Columbia vs. Heller & McDonald v. Chicago). In summary the Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Ponder that for a moment while I address a few things; without ammo a firearm is like one of your paperweights. Useless, right? And since you want to have ammo sold via the police or sheriff's dept., you've placed the buyer(s) in a "gun free zone" situation (note more mass killings happen in those as US history has shown), restricted the access for buying ammo who do not on a car or are handicapped (think of that?) and could be marked by criminals seeing the buyer(s) for breaking & entering later when the buyer(s) is at work.
How about we have the Postal Service (USPS) be in-charge of selling ammunition?
Certainly, they would be more consistent and reliable than police departments.
Certainly, they have the ability to delivery to the disenfranchised, and those unable to go to the local police, and sit for hours waiting to be helped.
Certainly, they already have the technology to do accounting and other seemingly important bookkeeping tasks (auto-ordering).
Certainly, they already have the storage-space.
Certainly, they need the work, considering that they are losing more and more business and money every year; long passed bankruptcy.
Finally, they do this job already, but with an exclusive contract, the USPS could be the only quasi-governmental unit that actually works. Of course, envy and jealousy would erupt at the federal level, but that would be fixed by making the postal service a highly sought-after patronage position.
The only other drawback is that a customer would need a photo ID (or Ammo purchase only), which would raise the ire of the ACLU, and similar so-called civil liberties groups.
Nevermind...