I'm trying to imagine a way to address this without invoking magic or perfect nationwide surveillance.
I mean, there's not really a 'quick' or 'perfect' way to go about it, but making sure that firearms don't get de-serialized in the first place may be a good way of going about it. Holding gun store owners and those that trade the weapons to a higher standard and with greater scrutiny will probably be the first step to reducing the amount that gets into illicit trade and circulation. It's the private purchases that are the major issue, though. Hard to detect, hard to trace, and hard to prevent. For some people, this is a great way to make a living, and so they're vehemently opposed to any changes in regulation that prevent such private transactions from taking place. There's got to be a way to make it harder for these weapons to get into illegal circulation.
I've fired weapons before, been trained to fire them correctly, how to clean them, and that kind of responsibility and presence of danger isn't always apparent to those in emotional distress, those with children, those in the drug trade, and so on. There are multiple ways to go about this, but ending prohibition may go a long way in reducing drug-related violence and shootings as well. Treating addiction as a public health issue and not as a criminal act may reduce the level of violence that is perpetrated. Mental health support will also go a long way in preventing shootings like the Sandy Hook shooting. That kid was clearly unstable and disturbed to begin with.
If you can use your fingerprint to unlock your phone, the same technology should be available to unlock your gun.
You're more likely to get killed by your own kid if you have a firearm in your household than you are of other threats, so I'm going to go ahead and agree with Al on this one. Gun control can be more lax if society's perception of weapons changes towards responsibility, but we've got too many goddamn idiots, sociopaths and psychopaths in this country.
On one hand, Chicago has some of the tightest restrictions on gun control, but one of the highest murder rates in the country using illegally acquired firearms. Chicago historically also has some of the greatest income disparity in the country as well. Cities with high income disparity are also disproportionately violent. The guns obtained in Chicago are typically passed around from family member to family member, but typically make their way in from Indiana. It's not the online stores, the gun shows, but private sellers that are allowing weapons to circulate into trade and lose the paper trail, making their way into the hands of criminals.
I've gone hunting. You don't need a 20-round drum mag on a semi-automatic shotgun to go hunting. You don't need a 30 round mag .223 semi-auto rifle to go hunting either. Something like that's either for fun or for murder, not home defense or hunting.
