Posted on Aug 11, 2015
my-6-step-solution-end-gun-violence-matt-sweetwood
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Do you agree or disagree with the 6-Step Solution to End Gun Violence?
I'm hoping that this article will get some insightful discussion going on our Second Amendment Rights and the growing problem we have in this country with gun violence. Don't shoot the messenger! Just read the 6 steps and provide your unabridged feedback RP Nation!
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-6-step-solution-end-gun-violence-matt-sweetwood?trk=pulse-det-nav_art
By Matt Sweetwood
The VOICE of Single-Fathers & President, Unique Photo
I am pro-gun, pro-constitution and anti-violence. I despise that innocent men, women, and children are losing their lives to this kind of mass gun violence in theaters, churches and schools. I despise that our inner cities are riddled with minority on minority gun crime. I despise that our second amendment rights are are justly being questioned, as most civilized folk are desperate to stop the cycle of gun crimes.
Click Here to See the Original Article Published on "The Good Men Project"
I also hated that the State of New Jersey engaged in a vicious campaign, to unfairly and improperly take my rights away. I am likely the only person you have heard of who fought hard, paid 100,000 dollars in the process all the way up to the Supreme Court with no help from the NRA or anyone. I fought hard and won.
It was 1996 and my wife moved out of the house permanently and I was left with five kids to take care of. Federal law says that you can't own weapons if you are subject to a restraining order and we had mutual restraining orders. By consent agreement with the local New Jersey authorities, I sold my guns for $1 to a friendly gun shop and the local police held my firearms card.
My divorce, one of the longest in New Jersey history, after 2 separate visits to the appellate court, came to an end four years later. I now had permanent full custody of our five children and the restraining orders were lifted. When I attempted to get my firearms card back, the state refused saying a new law had been passed and since my guns were not returned to me, I could never legally own a gun in New Jersey again.
It took me six years to finally win a landmark decision in the NJ Supreme Court. It was an attack on gun ownership rights by an ideological district attorney’s office. The state wasn't interested in protecting the public – they were engaging in politics. They spent a large amount of taxpayer dollars going after me – an individual who has never committed a crime of any kind, while gun violence reaches new record levels in many New Jersey cities.
I found it ironic that my court appearances were mostly in Newark and Trenton, New Jersey – cities well-known for illegal guns and violence. I could have left the courthouse, walked a block away and bought a gun on the street in minutes,
So what is the solution to this blight on our society? It’s certainly not banning guns. It is our constitutional right and it’s a fantasy to think you will remove the hundreds of millions of guns that are already in circulation. So, I propose the following 6-step solution, which will likely displease both gun-rights and anti-gun folks alike.
Click Here to See the Original Article Published on "The Good Men Project"
There needs to be a modernized national database of all guns and gun owners that all states use. This way when someone commits an aggravated felony, we know they have guns. This is to track felons, not to track law abiding gun owners.
Elimination of gun selling / trading and Internet gun purchases without background checks. We need to know who is buying guns.
Elimination of gun selling / trading events without reporting of sales. We need to know who is buying guns.
There should be a set standard for gun ownership. Currently, it is left in the discretion of local authorities who sometimes error incorrectly either way. If you have committed an aggravated felony you can't have a gun. If you have mental health issues you get a hearing to determine your status. If you don’t fall into those categories, you can’t be denied a gun and you are allowed to carry it. The non-carry states are violating our 2nd amendment rights.
Let’s do as the Israelis do. Currently, here in the USA, most sports arenas have searches on the way in. That needs to be effectuated on more public place where there are larger crowds. In Israel, you can't enter a movie theater, bar, mall, etc., without bags being searched and wanded by a metal / bomb detector. And police need to be able to stop and frisk.
Most gun crimes are committed by repeat offenders. There needs to be mandatory minimum jail sentences for any crime committed with a gun. Sell drugs while carrying a gun and get 10 years in prison – do it again, get 20 years. We need to let the bad guys know, gun crime gets you real time.
That is a pro-gun, reasonable gun control law, anti-violence, and pro-constitution solution intended to spur debate. This is also not a pick and choose any one of the 6 above you like. The idea is to implement all of them simultaneously. If both sides would actually get out of our ideological trenches we could make that happen. This article has inspired me to send my 6-step method to my Congressmen and Senators from New Jersey – while not holding my breath, waiting for a positive response.
Good guys should be able to own guns and protect themselves and their families. The way the political debate is going right now, the bad guys will continue to get guns and the violence will continue.
Originally Published 08-08-2015 on "The Good Men Project"
Want to have Matt speak to your audience? Inspirational keynote speeches are a click away at MSweetwood.com.
While Matt Sweetwood has experienced professional and personal success in the field of photography and in his reinvention of the modern camera store, by far his greatest achievement is having raised five children alone to adulthood. The journey through 18 years of single fatherhood and the battles he’s fought after his wife’s personality disorder turned violent, have given Matt a viewpoint of what is truly possible in life that anyone looking for a bigger life will find worth considering. In 1997, Matt was awarded full custody of their five children ages 18 months to 8 years old. Since then, he has gained unplanned expertise in a range of single parenting and custody issues, including dating while caring for children and the legal, social, academic and institutional prejudices against men who are single parents. Today Matt’s children (3 girls and 2 boys) are grown and remarkably successful. Meanwhile Matt is the President of Unique Photo, a race car driver, a photographer and currently writing his first book,"Man Up.' Follow Matt on Twitter @MSweetwood or at MSweetwood.com
Want to have Matt speak to your audience? Inspirational keynote speeches are a click away at MSweetwood.com.
] SPC (Join to see)
I'm hoping that this article will get some insightful discussion going on our Second Amendment Rights and the growing problem we have in this country with gun violence. Don't shoot the messenger! Just read the 6 steps and provide your unabridged feedback RP Nation!
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-6-step-solution-end-gun-violence-matt-sweetwood?trk=pulse-det-nav_art
By Matt Sweetwood
The VOICE of Single-Fathers & President, Unique Photo
I am pro-gun, pro-constitution and anti-violence. I despise that innocent men, women, and children are losing their lives to this kind of mass gun violence in theaters, churches and schools. I despise that our inner cities are riddled with minority on minority gun crime. I despise that our second amendment rights are are justly being questioned, as most civilized folk are desperate to stop the cycle of gun crimes.
Click Here to See the Original Article Published on "The Good Men Project"
I also hated that the State of New Jersey engaged in a vicious campaign, to unfairly and improperly take my rights away. I am likely the only person you have heard of who fought hard, paid 100,000 dollars in the process all the way up to the Supreme Court with no help from the NRA or anyone. I fought hard and won.
It was 1996 and my wife moved out of the house permanently and I was left with five kids to take care of. Federal law says that you can't own weapons if you are subject to a restraining order and we had mutual restraining orders. By consent agreement with the local New Jersey authorities, I sold my guns for $1 to a friendly gun shop and the local police held my firearms card.
My divorce, one of the longest in New Jersey history, after 2 separate visits to the appellate court, came to an end four years later. I now had permanent full custody of our five children and the restraining orders were lifted. When I attempted to get my firearms card back, the state refused saying a new law had been passed and since my guns were not returned to me, I could never legally own a gun in New Jersey again.
It took me six years to finally win a landmark decision in the NJ Supreme Court. It was an attack on gun ownership rights by an ideological district attorney’s office. The state wasn't interested in protecting the public – they were engaging in politics. They spent a large amount of taxpayer dollars going after me – an individual who has never committed a crime of any kind, while gun violence reaches new record levels in many New Jersey cities.
I found it ironic that my court appearances were mostly in Newark and Trenton, New Jersey – cities well-known for illegal guns and violence. I could have left the courthouse, walked a block away and bought a gun on the street in minutes,
So what is the solution to this blight on our society? It’s certainly not banning guns. It is our constitutional right and it’s a fantasy to think you will remove the hundreds of millions of guns that are already in circulation. So, I propose the following 6-step solution, which will likely displease both gun-rights and anti-gun folks alike.
Click Here to See the Original Article Published on "The Good Men Project"
There needs to be a modernized national database of all guns and gun owners that all states use. This way when someone commits an aggravated felony, we know they have guns. This is to track felons, not to track law abiding gun owners.
Elimination of gun selling / trading and Internet gun purchases without background checks. We need to know who is buying guns.
Elimination of gun selling / trading events without reporting of sales. We need to know who is buying guns.
There should be a set standard for gun ownership. Currently, it is left in the discretion of local authorities who sometimes error incorrectly either way. If you have committed an aggravated felony you can't have a gun. If you have mental health issues you get a hearing to determine your status. If you don’t fall into those categories, you can’t be denied a gun and you are allowed to carry it. The non-carry states are violating our 2nd amendment rights.
Let’s do as the Israelis do. Currently, here in the USA, most sports arenas have searches on the way in. That needs to be effectuated on more public place where there are larger crowds. In Israel, you can't enter a movie theater, bar, mall, etc., without bags being searched and wanded by a metal / bomb detector. And police need to be able to stop and frisk.
Most gun crimes are committed by repeat offenders. There needs to be mandatory minimum jail sentences for any crime committed with a gun. Sell drugs while carrying a gun and get 10 years in prison – do it again, get 20 years. We need to let the bad guys know, gun crime gets you real time.
That is a pro-gun, reasonable gun control law, anti-violence, and pro-constitution solution intended to spur debate. This is also not a pick and choose any one of the 6 above you like. The idea is to implement all of them simultaneously. If both sides would actually get out of our ideological trenches we could make that happen. This article has inspired me to send my 6-step method to my Congressmen and Senators from New Jersey – while not holding my breath, waiting for a positive response.
Good guys should be able to own guns and protect themselves and their families. The way the political debate is going right now, the bad guys will continue to get guns and the violence will continue.
Originally Published 08-08-2015 on "The Good Men Project"
Want to have Matt speak to your audience? Inspirational keynote speeches are a click away at MSweetwood.com.
While Matt Sweetwood has experienced professional and personal success in the field of photography and in his reinvention of the modern camera store, by far his greatest achievement is having raised five children alone to adulthood. The journey through 18 years of single fatherhood and the battles he’s fought after his wife’s personality disorder turned violent, have given Matt a viewpoint of what is truly possible in life that anyone looking for a bigger life will find worth considering. In 1997, Matt was awarded full custody of their five children ages 18 months to 8 years old. Since then, he has gained unplanned expertise in a range of single parenting and custody issues, including dating while caring for children and the legal, social, academic and institutional prejudices against men who are single parents. Today Matt’s children (3 girls and 2 boys) are grown and remarkably successful. Meanwhile Matt is the President of Unique Photo, a race car driver, a photographer and currently writing his first book,"Man Up.' Follow Matt on Twitter @MSweetwood or at MSweetwood.com
Want to have Matt speak to your audience? Inspirational keynote speeches are a click away at MSweetwood.com.
] SPC (Join to see)
Collecting Guns
2nd Amendment
Safety
Crime
Violence
Edited 8 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 50
Last I checked, murder is already illegal, regardless of the implement used. I'm opposed to any additional law on the implements used to murder. Im satisfied with the laws we have that make murder illegal.
I'm for citizens having the right to defend themselves, and access to whatever implements they need to effect that defense.
I'm opposed to any law that regulates, restricts or removes the access to whatever implements they need to effect that defense.
I'm for citizens having the right to defend themselves, and access to whatever implements they need to effect that defense.
I'm opposed to any law that regulates, restricts or removes the access to whatever implements they need to effect that defense.
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CWO4 David Smith
SGM Erik Marquez
If they keep up with their way of thinking, the libs will have us back in the stone ages: ban cars, they kill people; ban knives, forks and spoons, they kill people; ban hot dogs, they CHOKE and KILL people; ban OREOS and soft drinks, they make people fat and lazy and eventually KILL people; ban health food, it kills people (fool Gibbons choked on pine nuts...).....
:-)
If they keep up with their way of thinking, the libs will have us back in the stone ages: ban cars, they kill people; ban knives, forks and spoons, they kill people; ban hot dogs, they CHOKE and KILL people; ban OREOS and soft drinks, they make people fat and lazy and eventually KILL people; ban health food, it kills people (fool Gibbons choked on pine nuts...).....
:-)
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SSG Paul Headlee
MAJ Hugh Blanchard You have to say something like, "This Ford Explorer is MILITARY GRADE!", with a mixture of horror and astonishment. You know, like when they compare an AR-15 to an M16.
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It seemed pretty spot on, except that he wants all weapons registered...
I don't know If I would agree on that. All Hitler wanted to do was "register" the weapons *sarcasm*... COL Mikel J. Burroughs
I don't know If I would agree on that. All Hitler wanted to do was "register" the weapons *sarcasm*... COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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Capt Seid Waddell
SPC Kirk Gilles, exactly. That is the reason we have a Second Amendment in the first place.
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MSG (Join to see)
history lesson when germany passed its laws about guns, it was aimed at the nazi's, to prevent the overthrow of the govt, well it back fired, and all that the nazi's did was enforce it, the true german people never had a problem with guns, but jews and anyone else did, so technically the nazis did not disarm its citizens, but those that disented ring a bell wake up
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Well, his 6-Step Solution to End Gun Violence is a good beginning to a discussion, not the end of it. Basically, we need all sides to agree on some basic, guiding principles before we can continue the conversation, and I fear that neither side is prepared to even try to find agreement. I could be wrong, so let me try...
1. Self defense is a Natural/God-given right shared equally by all.
2. Self defense includes defense against all threats: Wild beasts, hunger and starvation, criminals, tyrannical governments, enemies.
3. Self defense is a personal right which may be shared cooperatively with friends, family, neighbors, communities, and states.
4. Self defense is an immediate need. The police may investigate crimes and seek to apprehend criminals, but they rarely can prevent crime. As that rustic philosopher said, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." They are, in effect, instruments of revenge.
5. The right of self defense includes the right to keep and use instruments that the weak may use to defend themselves from brute strength.
6. With every right comes responsibility. Those who defend themselves must not harm any who are not actively attacking them as to inflict bodily harm to take one's property without permission.
Now, if we could agree on those six things, we might have a rational discussion. Sadly, I don't think it will happen.
1. Self defense is a Natural/God-given right shared equally by all.
2. Self defense includes defense against all threats: Wild beasts, hunger and starvation, criminals, tyrannical governments, enemies.
3. Self defense is a personal right which may be shared cooperatively with friends, family, neighbors, communities, and states.
4. Self defense is an immediate need. The police may investigate crimes and seek to apprehend criminals, but they rarely can prevent crime. As that rustic philosopher said, "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." They are, in effect, instruments of revenge.
5. The right of self defense includes the right to keep and use instruments that the weak may use to defend themselves from brute strength.
6. With every right comes responsibility. Those who defend themselves must not harm any who are not actively attacking them as to inflict bodily harm to take one's property without permission.
Now, if we could agree on those six things, we might have a rational discussion. Sadly, I don't think it will happen.
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SSG Paul Headlee
COL Mikel J. Burroughs Prosecution. Remove violent criminals from circulation permanently.
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SSG Samuel Kermon
Goid afternoon sir. This is spot on. I both understand and accept the premises you make. I , sadly, agree that this is not a thing either side will embrace willingly.
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