Get The Guns?

Our country is in turmoil and no one can seem to agree on what the proper course of action is to solve our issues. The two biggest issues I see that face us today are the Fiscal Cliff and Gun Control. In my social media circles I see the gun control issue as the bigger of the two right now only because people's emotions are inflamed (and rightly so). The fiscal cliff has been detoured for a couple of months at least because a minor agreement was reached at the beginning of this month. So I'm going to talk a bit about the gun issue.

For these two topics I'm of the opinion that everything should be on the table when we talk about how to solve these two issues. Everything. As those issues are flushed out we can then decide that they are good or bad and then throw them out if needed but they at the very least need to be entertained. Now for my opinions on the gun issue...

My disclaimers: I think most that have read my past posts or see my Facebook status' will know that I'm a pretty liberal leaning guy. I don't own a gun. I've never fired a gun. I've had no real interests in guns because I wasn't raised around them and when I started my family I didn't want them in my house around young children. Now that my children are older I've developed the urge to go to a shooting range and learn how to properly and safely fire a gun. Call it a 'bucket list' item.

The arguments I've read for the pro-gun side center on the premise that guns are only bad when they are in the wrong hands. Right now the majority of the suggestions for solution are to have more guns. I equate this solution to the Cold War nuclear arms race. How many times did we need to destroy the world before we ever felt safe - and did we really ever feel safe? The anti-gun argument seems centered on limiting the guns that are out there for people to own. Get rid of the guns and no one gets hurt. (These are severely paired down here because I just don't want to write a 5000 word essay on all of the pro's and con's of gun ownership in America...)

I do not think the answer is to take away the guns. It would never work. There are too many out there to begin with and we are too deeply entrenched in our 2nd Amendment Rights. Get rid of assault weapons - well, what is an assault weapon? I've seen people struggle with what actually defines an assault weapon. I don't have one (definition or assault weapon) so I'm not going to offer an attempt to define them here. Throw more guns into the fire? Really? So they can eventually end up in the wrong hands also?

The majority of the mass shootings that have occurred lately involve 'legally owned' guns. The guy in Connecticut took his from his mom after he killed her. She had legally purchased them and was within her right to own them based on the laws today. I heard another story where a guy bought an AR-15 for over $1000, fell onto hard times and sold his gun for $100 to get by. That weapon was then used to shoot up a party because the kids that now had possession of the gun weren't invited.

The Conservatives are both right and wrong here. Right in the sense that guns are only bad when they get into the wrong hands. Wrong in the sense that more guns will NOT solve the problem. Here is my suggestion to help with the problems today (and what I love about is that it came from some of the posts I see from my conservative friends): Revamp the gun registration system nation wide. On top of that, implement standard gun licensing, also nationally. Mirror these processes to our current drivers license and automobile registration programs today. (Some of these suggestions may exist today but only in certain pockets of the country, there is no national standard.)

Licensing - If you want to own a gun you have to take classes, both in a class room setting and an actual field usage setting, to show that you know how to use a gun and the importance of gun safety. Included in the licensing process would be a thorough background check that would involve everyone living in the household of the licensee.

• The background check would include medical history specific to mental health services received by anyone in the family. The hurdles encountered to do this should be less today given the technology that exists with national medical databases and the laws that are in place to protect peoples Personal Health Information (PHI) contained within that database. 
• That license would need to be updated every few years and after a few cycles of renewal the licensee would need to retake the classroom and field programs to gain recertification. 
• The license would identify what type of gun (based on training and qualifications) that person would be allowed to purchase. 
• The license would also identify if a person was registered to be allowed to Conceal/Carry. 
• The license would need to be present on a person who was actually carrying a weapon.
• The license would be valid in all 50 States, however if a person moved they would be required to obtain a license in their new State of residence.

Registration - Like automobiles, registration would be an annual requirement. I'm sure we could find a way to do this electronically so that the gun itself would not need to be carried into a government building.

• Registrations would need to be kept with the gun at all times. 
• The registration requirements would help to show that guns are not changing hands to people that aren't properly licensed. 
• A person selling a gun would be required to notify the gun registration agency that a gun was sold with x number of days. 
• The new owner would be required to register that gun with xx number of days.

Laws - Beef up our laws around these two requirements so that when someone doesn't do it, it's a major offense. It should include mandatory jail time and a fine. Lose a gun twice, forfeit your license and remaining guns. Let's get serious about this issue.

I know I probably make this sound pretty easy and recognize there is no easy fix. This issue is a matter of ownership and right now neither side shows much interest in taking any. The bottom line here is this isn't a matter of sides and the question we need to all ask ourselves is - "how much responsibility am I willing to take to make my country a safer place to live".

Resolutions New And Old

It's that time of year again. Time to make some New (Years) Resolutions. We make them, then we fail at them, or at least I do. I was joking with some people that were posting their resolutions to please add an over/under so we could place bets on how long it would be before the resolution was broken. Not very nice, but I only did it on the silly ones like "I'm not going to have road rage on the people in rush hour traffic". But seriously I commend people who make new resolutions. It shows that they recognize a need for improvement or change. That takes a lot of courage to do and even more so when you publish it on Facebook or in a blog. I have two specific resolutions for this new year.

The first is to improve my financial foundation. The second is to reverse the trend of the past 20 years and actually lose some weight this year (and to do it not due to illness!). I have a plan drawn up for the first and feel really confident that I'll succeed in this one as long as something catastrophic doesn't occur (like a fiscal cliff!). The second, I'm not so sure about. I've got tools to do it, an idea in my head on how to get it done and plenty of support from my friends to encourage me. But, this is one that is an Old Resolution being retread for 2013 and therefore I have my doubts. Then I came across a post this morning in Facebook shared by my cousin (Carrie C. - who is a fitness guru) and felt it really hits home about what our mindset should be when facing our new (and old) resolutions.

I am now in Week 42 of my walks. Each day, 30 minutes, that's it. Thousands of you have joined me since that Sunday night on March 18 when, as a joke, I said I was going for a walk. I had read that morning in the paper that there were now more people in the U.S. on anti-depressants than those who go to the movies. I tweeted out that maybe that's the problem -- perhaps if people got out and went to the movies more they might feel better. This unleashed a lively conversation about mood-aletering drugs, the lousy movies these days in theaters, the rip-off prices for 3D films, etc. Finally, someone wrote: "Sometimes I think what I need is just a brisk walk." I tweeted, "Hey, there's an idea! I'm putting my shoes on right now." I went out and came back home after 30 minutes -- and a few hundred of you had amazingly joined me where you live. So I went walking the next night, probably out of some sort of obligation because so many had written to say "please let's do it again tonight!" So I did. And the night after that. By the end of the week it was hard to determine how many thousands were now going out with me on these "virtual walks" in hundreds of cities and towns, but it had taken off like a rocket and so we all went walking every night from that point on.

Now it's 250 days later. What a simple, great idea that person had! Some have asked, "Why are we walking?" "What's the cause?" There is no cause other than to go for a walk. We do it just because it feels good. We do it because we can. We do it because it's free and it takes no time. All you need to know is how to put one foot in front of the other (or, for the disabled who've joined in, by any means necessary). It's the perfect slacker/schlub activity.

I am often asked "How much weight have you lost from all this walking?" For a while I didn't understand the question. I mean, why would I want to lose anything? I have enough trouble finding my keys! Then I got it -- skinny people (1/3 of the country) want us, the majority, to be like them. That's so nice of them.

But the truth is, exercise does not work, diets do not work, feeling crummy does not work. Nothing works. My advice: Quit trying to be something you're not, be happy with the life you've been given, and just go for a pleasant walk outside. With me. Wherever you are. Get off the treadmill, stop drinking diet Coke, throw out all the rules. It's all a scam and it conspires to keep you miserable. If it says "low-fat" or "sugar-free" or "just 100 calories!" throw it out. Remember, one of the main tenets of capitalism is to have the consumer filled with fear, insecurity, envy and unhappiness so that we can spend, spend, spend our way out of it and, dammit, just feel better for a little while. But we don't, do we? The path to happiness - and deep down, we all know this -- is created by love, and being kind to oneself, sharing a sense of community with others, becoming a participant instead of a spectator, and being in motion. Moving. Moving around all day. Lifting things, even if it's yourself. Going for a walk every day will change your thinking and have a ripple effect. You'll find yourself only eating when you're truly hungry. And if you're not hungry, go clean your room, or have sex, or call a friend on the phone. Without knowing it, you'll starting eating like the French (there is no French word for "fast-food") -- and you will feel better. You do not feel better admonishing yourself or beating yourself up or setting up a bunch of unrealistic rules and goals with all the do's and dont's that are just begging to be broken. You wanna know something? I eat ice cream every friggin' day. I drink a regular Coke every single day. I put butter on things. But I also walk every day. Some days now, I walk twice. And now I've started to do some push-ups and lifting stuff. It's building muscle, and in doing so, has created an extra furnace to burn stuff and create energy. Weird! That, in turn, makes me sleep 7-8 hours a night which is another game-changer. And all the walking and lifting makes me thirsty, so that makes me drink more water -- another huge plus!

So, you can see from the photo of me up in the box that something has changed. I have no idea how much weight I've lost and I don't care. I don't care about that or diets or home gym equipment or rules about what I can or cannot eat or anything other than making sure I go on my walk today. That's it. That's the big secret. It costs nothing. I feel great. I can see my feet! There they are! Hello, feet! Wanna go for a walk? The feet say YES! Ask yours right now. And if you want, join me. But do NOT go on that walk with me if you are doing so to "get fit", "be healthy", or "lose weight". You are fine just the way you are. Only walk outside with me right now because you know it might just feel good, because it's a beautiful day, or someone is joining in with you, the fresh air is invigorating, you have to drive down to the drug store but you realize you can walk there, or simply because it's just nice to be alive for one more day. Walk to walk and nothing else -- and the other stuff will take care of itself.

I'm heading outside in an hour. Join me. And let me know how it went! ~ Michael Moore