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My opportunity I discussed in the previous
assignment is that there is an unmet need for an emotional/mental stability
test that verifies if someone is eligible to purchase a firearm or not.
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In order to meet this opportunity I have come up
with a service that is a test that anyone who wants to purchase a gun will have
to take before being able to do so. You
will have to go to one of many psychologists who will all have the same
assortment of questions. These special, articulated questions will give the
psychologist insight on your past life, current life, and future goals. Based
on your answer you will be awarded a number of 0-5. Zero meaning very stable
and five meaning very unstable. At the end of the questions the total score
will be equivalent to a scientific and psychological reasoning of that persons
mental stability. This information will then be included when the background
check is being conducted. There will be a fee for processing this information
into the systems. But if you really want a firearm you will have to pay for
this process.
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When you go to purchase a gun and the gun
distributor requests the background check, this score and description of your
mental stability will be looked at as well. Based on both of those things the
gun distributor will then receive information if you have been approved or not.
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This is not something easy to do; it does
involve a lot of time and research in order to articulate what the total numbers
mean and how they mean so, but specialists in this area will help enormously. Creating
a service like this that must be required before purchasing a gun will make all
of society feel a little more safe and comfortable with who is able to purchase
a gun. Plus, requiring this type of test can push people away from purchasing a
gun who shouldn’t have one because of fear from the results of the test.
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This is a service that can significantly
decrease the amount of tragedies that occur because of mentally unstable people
with firearms.
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ReplyDeleteHi Kaitlin,
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that if the government implement this as a regulation and requirement to get guns there may be many riots or campaigns against them. Furthermore, Individuals are likely to bribe or buy from the black market in order to avoid going through the hassle of tests to buy a gun. Additionally, isn't this a bit of a wicked problem? For example, is it morally right to take away the right of people who are mentally ill to have a gun? What if they want it for self defence? What if someone breaks into their house or has in the past and they feel unsafe? Furthermore, where can you draw the line? At what point is someone mentally well or not well enough to have a gun? Doesn't everyone have at least some degree of mental illness such as anxiety or depression? Can you really determine it by a 1-5 scale? I think it may be a little more complicated than that.
I really like the concept because it definitely is a big issue and there is a unmet need to this problem, but there are many difficulties with this solution.
I agree there should be more regulations as far as firearms go but in the end most mass shootings that occur at school are a result of a child getting a hold of their mentally stable parents gun and the proceeding to shoot up a school. Furthermore adding certain test can be very tricky when it comes to constitutional rights because it opens lots of room for discrimination. An example of this was the literacy test designed to prevent African Americans from voting because those giving the test made the rules and can determine who passes or fails which can lead to people with certain demographics or simply their personality being banned from purchasing a gun.
ReplyDelete