To reduce gun deaths and protect the Second Amendment, pass Donna's Law

© Provided by Washington Examiner A police officer inspects a revolver turned in to exchange for money during a gun buyback in Atlanta.(AP Photo/David Goldman)

The United States endured yet another school shooting on Monday. The mass shooting at a private Christian school in Tennessee left at least seven people dead, including the shooter, who identified as transgender.

It is yet another example of America’s gun violence problem. Thankfully, however, states can take action to reduce the number of gun deaths.

If states want to find a bipartisan path to reducing gun deaths, they should copy Utah, Washington, and Virginia and pass Donna’s Law.

Under the law, a state's residents can voluntarily put themselves on a do-not-sell list for firearms. The state adds these names to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. People can remove their names if they wish, but there is a waiting period of one to three weeks before they can purchase a firearm. The people who use the law do not demand that others hand their guns to the state. Instead, these people recognize their incapability of responsibly owning a firearm.

The purpose of the law is to prevent people from going out, purchasing a firearm, and impulsively committing suicide. It won’t stop every suicide, but if people want some protection against their worst impulses, they should have the right to ask for it.

The United States had 45,222 total gun deaths in 2020, according to Pew Research Center. Most gun deaths are suicides (54%), while murders are a close second (43%), according to the think tank. While school shootings make the news and suicides typically do not, the latter is what gun violence in the United States typically looks like. It is likely where the most potential exists to reduce gun violence in America.

Thankfully, most suicide attempts are unsuccessful. Unfortunately, 85% of suicide attempts with a gun are successful. Other methods are far less effective. Fewer than 3% of pill overdose suicide attempts are successful, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. If people can avoid an impulsive suicide-by-firearm attempt, their odds of dying by suicide decrease substantially. When someone unsuccessfully attempts suicide, about 90% of the time, they do not end up killing themselves in the future, according to Harvard.

So if states allowed people to voluntarily rescind their gun rights, they could protect everyone else’s Second Amendment rights while addressing a chief cause of gun violence. It would not stop every instance of gun violence the country faces, including many school shootings, but fewer deaths while protecting people’s rights is a win-win situation.

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Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.

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Tags: Opinion, Beltway Confidential, Blog Contributors, Second Amendment, Firearms, Opinion

Original Author: Tom Joyce

Original Location: To reduce gun deaths and protect the Second Amendment, pass Donna's Law