by Tani Freiwald

Hi Everyone, Dana Jerman here.

It’s been a year since my mentor-in-arts Tani Freiwald passed away.

Since we are bound to see the issue of Gun Control arise again as mass shootings stand to continue beyond and into a world that embraces a Covid Vaccine, I would like to share with you some thoughts she shared with me. She was a member of the Armed Forces and is interred at a military cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada. May the service of her thoughts continue to benefit others.

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Time to revisit my solution to meeting the requirements of the 2nd Amendment and the "over our cold dead hands" gun aficionados…

From birth, or naturalization, every man, woman and child in America will have their choice of one gun- either a pistol or single barreled shot gun, provided free of charge by the US government. Each weapon will be registered to a single individual and it will be their responsibility to ensure that their weapon is secured and if lost or stolen, promptly reported to the authorities under penalty of fine or prosecution.

Gun use and safety education will begin in kindergarten and continue throughout the twelve years of public education. Upon reaching age 18, young adults will have the opportunity to choose to keep the weapon assigned to them by their parents at birth, or trade it in for the weapon of their choice.

Any assault weapons entering the country illegally will be confiscated and dealt with like illegal drugs. All assault style weapons and manufacture will be banned, but there will be no restrictions on the number or type of single action weapon an adult American can possess. Each additional weapon must be fully registered and no more than one weapon per citizen will be allowed to be kept in any residence. All additional weapons will be stored in centralized gun club/repositories under lock and key; manned, inventoried and supervised 24/7 at the expense of the weapon owners.

Citizen police forces will be demilitarized (weapons, tanks, anti-personnel vehicles etc.) They can and will utilize their assigned weapons only and during the time that assault weapons still circulate among criminals- this applies especially to trained SWAT Teams, which can only be deployed under strict, well-trained and regulated circumstances.

Finally, no American citizen will be forced to own a government issued weapon and can opt out and return their weapon at any point in their life. They will have this choice beginning at age 18.

There it is. Pistols and single barreled shot guns will be ordinary and fully incorporated into American life. People will still kill themselves and each other at higher rates than most other civilized countries, but it will be a lot harder for angry men or women to lay waste to dozens in a matter of minutes.

With the majority of citizens armed and properly educated in gun handling and discharge, any mass shooter would probably be "neutralized" in pretty short order. It's a radical idea, but it appears to me to meet the requirements of the 2nd Amendment and the concerns of the citizens who are either terrified of losing their right to bear arms, or are terrified of being gunned down in their workplaces, places of worship, or their schools.