Overview

Today's topic is about guns because it seems to be a very popular topic in recent times and I'm constantly revising my thoughts on guns in general, who should have guns, what kind of guns people should have, what kind of gun laws or regulations should be in place, etc... and now I am finally ready to put my thoughts out here into the world. Please feel free to comment down below if you disagree with what I say because I am misinformed on many things in life and any kind of education or alternative perspective allows me to narrow my ignorance and broaden my mindset to see the full picture of the issues that plague us every day. So without further interruption, let's get into it.

Guns

Guns are everywhere. Many households own guns for hunting, protection, or collections. There are many kinds of guns and each one is used for something different. Guns are what allowed us to put down swords and knives and defeat animals and enemies much more swiftly at close or far away distances. Over time people engineered guns to become better than their predecessors and guns became a way of memorabilia and collection as well as sport and survival. In some cases guns are even used to protect yourself and your family or for the law enforcement to use to protect themselves and others in combat. The military uses the most high-tech of guns and weaponry but as the years go by civilians can access more intricate weapons and designer weaponry etc...

Do I think guns are bad? That question sounds so simple but it really requires some context.
Guns in general - the physical existence of them is not bad in my opinion. Guns can be very useful in appropriate situations. Guns are a historical accomplishment for inventors and people who enjoy hunting as well as military purposes. Is shooting guns bad? Well it depends on what you're shooting. 
If you are at a shooting range hitting targets and/or inanimate objects then I think that is 100% without a doubt OKAY! What about shooting animals? Well, if you read my previous blog
then you will see that once again, it depends on which animals you are shooting. If you practice a vegan lifestyle then shooting animals period is bad. If you're a carnivore/omnivore then shooting animals isn't bad as long as the animals are being used for food and/or sport. When it comes to sport I think shooting animals is bad if the animals are endangered and going extinct. However, if they are animals with massive populations that need to be regulated and minimized, then shooting them for sport and/or food doesn't sound like a bad idea. 

What about shooting people? Now this is the sticky bit. When it comes to war, people are going to die. That's just a fact. Which people die and how many die are up in the air based on how events go. Who deserves to die and who doesn't? I think we can all agree that innocent parties don't deserve to die and only bad people should be considered for being killed or punished, right? But who decides what makes a person good or bad. For example, Country A and Country B are at war with each other. Each country believes that they are good and that the other is bad. Which one is the good one and which one is the bad one? Do they necessarily have to be good and/or bad? Is it possible for each one to contain good and bad people who have different opinions regardless of what conflict is going on? Absolutely. So many people who are not bad are being killed over someone's argument and they are killed with no reason simply for living in that country that is being attacked. If bombs started dropping on America... would you feel outraged? Well it depends.... do you live in America? Do you have people you care about in America? Or are you someone who dislikes America and thinks that that the US deserves this and that etc...? Not everyone in a given area is good or bad but everyone is forced into the actions of others because of these large conflicts in the world.

Let's bring things down to a smaller picture. You're in your house and it's late at night. You hear an unfamiliar sound or voice and panic quickly settles into you. You own a gun and you keep it safely locked in your room so you unlock the case and you grab it and make sure it's armed. You carefully and quietly keep the gun on you as you investigate your home for any intruders. If you spotted a person would you point your gun at them? What sort of signs would you use to determine whether or not you should shoot them? What areas of the body do you think would suffice to disarm them or would you aim to kill them/severely injure them? In the name of self defense shooting a gun at another person is deemed okay and appropriate if the situation calls for that solution. But when we see news articles about police brutality and cops shooting people who were not threatening them in any way but claim it was in the name of self defense when there was nothing defend against.... is that still okay? I don't think so. 

Police

Police exist to handle situations and crime in the local area. Growing up, cops were viewed as prestigious and influential men and women in uniform. Children looked up to them and their shiny badge and knew that when something bad happens, the cops take care of the bad guys! I rarely ever saw cops growing up and when I did it was because they pulled a car over for speeding or they were grabbing a coffee at a convenient store or they were just acting as security at a carnival/festival. Never in my life did I ever physically see a cop arrest or disarm someone and use force, their gun or any type of violence or brutality. Sometimes on the news you would see stories of cops fulfilling their duty and being killed in the middle of the crime scene in the middle of the event. Now and then you would see videos of cops handling uncooperative individuals. But nobody ever pointed blame at the cops. It was always the criminal at fault. Whatever they did was the reason why they got their punishment and that's what they deserve. 

But now you see videos of cops abusing their authority every single day. Now, I personally think that the media controls what we see and what we don't see. I guarantee there are plenty of white people, male or female, who get assaulted by cops and it just doesn't make the news. But in the news it is always a cop and a black male and the crowd is always divided on whose at fault. 

I know that not all cops are bad. But bad cops do exist and bad cops are making all cops look bad. I think what needs to happen is cops let go of their brotherhood and start focusing on  their morals and reputation by removing toxic cops from the force. Cops go to school and take an oath to uphold the standards to keep everyone safe. Just because they earn the badge doesn't mean they deserve the badge. Perhaps at some point a bad cop was a fair and just cop and something set them over the edge and now they abuse their power because they know they can get away with it because they have a badge and a title and authority over those beneath them. This needs to stop. It's not right to choose who you want to protect and who you want to abuse. You protect everyone or remove your badge and walk away from the service.

I remember being in a car and getting pulled over by cops 3 times. I was a passenger each time. I was scared, not for my life, or going to jail... but getting in trouble and getting a fine. We got pulled over once because the driver was speeding. Another time a head light was out and the final time my boyfriends inspection was going out that same week. All 3 incidents were justified reasons to be pulled over and warned/fined. Each encounter was a calm and respectful event. The officer was kind to us and we were kind to them. We followed every request and direction that the police told us to and we were able to drive away without any sense of endangerment. Of course it sucks getting pulled over and getting a ticket or a fine but getting a fine is the worst outcome that a "white female" thinks about  when getting pulled over. I imagine every time a black man gets into his car and drives by a police car, his heart stops and he holds his breath thinking "is today the day where I get pulled over and shot and gunpoint for my skin color?" Can you imagine that feeling? I imagine it happening, I imagine what it would feel like if it happened to me but I can't imagine what it actually feels like because it has never happened to me and probably never will. 

I think it's great that cameras are required to record all actions done by cops but I'm sure 85% of the footage gets scrapped because nobody watches the footage or the footage isn't needed for any particular reason. I wonder how much of that footage is cop related events being fair and just VS brutal and violent and completely unnecessary? I'm just curious... ya know? I feel like there should be a public live stream that people can watch from their local police station website so that we can check what the cops are doing real-time. There could be someone at the station who monitors the feed to make sure that anything extremely graphic/inappropriate for "viewer consumption" could be disabled until something else is happening but I think that maybe it could be utilized so that we can know who is playing good cop and bad cop. Ya know? Let me know what you think about that idea.

Gun Safety & Regulations

So gun laws, safety, and regulations is a hot issue. You have people who blame guns and you have people who blame the people behind the guns. Then there are people who blame the laws and people who sort of sit in the middle with all of those. For me, I sit in the middle. As I mentioned before, I don't think the guns themselves are the issue but I do think that certain types of guns are not appropriate for people to own just for the sake of having them. But then I realized that by saying that, I'm stripping people of the option of being a collector and so I don't think that taking away particular models of guns will improve any situations so that's obviously not the solution. As far as people behind the guns, I think this is the big issue. Who is fit for owning/using a gun? And even if laws are in place to convince people to avoid doing bad things with their guns, we all know that laws are just mental rules that humans fabricated. While most of us abide by them, in the universe... the laws hold no weight over nature. Just because it is illegal to murder someone, tons of people do it anyways with guns or other weapons. So once again, putting laws in place or removing guns from access are not the solutions because if someone wants to do something malicious, they will do what they need to carry out their intentions. If they don't have access to guns, they will use other means necessary to succeed in their plans. 

So what can we do to make everyone happy? Well I hate to say this but I don't think it's possible to make EVERYONE happy. I think it is possible to make large groups of people who share similar beliefs happy but there is always going to be people outside of that bubble on the opposite side of the spectrum who will turn their nose up to anything against what they believe. There is always going to be this constant tug of war push/pull magnet that weighs over every decision and law that exists.

My Idea

A few years ago I watched an anime called Psychopass. This anime is very entertaining and I strongly suggest that everyone watches it. It's a mature type anime so children and adults can enjoy it equally. Psychopass is an anime about a futuristic police force in Japan carrying out their duties and solving problems from within their world. The Psychopass itself is a neural network type brain that is made up of many brains collectively thinking/deciding things together. Each person of society has their own psychopass evaluation. Everything that the people do is constantly recorded and updating their individual psychopass. Your diet, your job, your education, your medical issues, and any mental issues, etc... are all taken into consideration for your psychopass. There is a number displayed in your identity and when you experience emotions, conflict, trauma, etc... those things affect your number. If your number becomes too low, you might be referred to someone who helps people with depression and motivation. Likewise if your number is too high, you might be arrested and contained for psychological assessment. You can improve your number through your actions if you are willing to pursue a positive lifestyle change but if you lose control then you will be unfit for society and taken to jail and/or a mental institute etc... 

The police force have these guns called dominators which are high tech weapons that attach themselves to the identity of the person holding the weapon. The weapon assesses their mental stability as well as their ranking and are only given certain permissions on how to use the weapon and what features the weapon has. Likewise, it also decides who is eligible for the gun to be pointed at. If you are emotionally distressed, angry, depressed, traumatized, etc... the gun will disable itself and you are unable to shoot the gun or even activate the gun. 

The anime goes really in depth with this but I was thinking about how this would work in reality.
Would it be possible to have a series of weapons that can assess your mental stability, criminal record, and/or background/identity and control whether or not you can handle the weapon, what portions of the weapon are available to you, and what targets you have access to shoot at.

So basically a police officer would be granted a certain amount of access based on his record and ranking in the force. When he aims the gun at a target the gun will not only scan the psychological state of the police officer but it will also collect information about the target. If the gun recognizes the user as an authorized party and that they are fit to handle the gun then it will enable itself. If the gun recognizes that the target has been approved for attack then the cop can physically shoot the individual to disarm them. If the gun sees that it is necessary to terminate the target then it will adjust itself to use a bullet or ammunition that will kill the target.

So Level 1 clearance would be for anyone who owns a gun for hunting and game/sport. The government would flag which targets are acceptable to aim at. So things like deer, turkeys, rabbits, ducks, etc... and anyone who has been cleared to have Level 1 access, can use these guns to hunt or use at a shooting range. Most people would probably be guaranteed this access.

If John Doe has Level 1 clearance and he goes out to the forest to shoot bucks with his buddies but him and his buddy are drinking beers and are now inebriated the gun will recognize the level adjustments and the alcohol content and will disable itself. The gun will literally lock and the user will lose access to using the gun. Once the individual is sober and their emotional levels are calm, the gun will re-evaluate the user and if everything is stable then the gun will activate and John Doe will have control over the weapon again.

If John Doe has Level 1 clearance and has been responsibly using his gun for years but one day he gets into a fight with his wife and becomes extremely agitated and feral-like and reaches for his gun the gun will recognize the high elevated emotional distress and will flag him not fit for usage of the gun. The gun will remain locked until he is calm but if the gun sees him as a dangerous individual not only will the gun disable itself but it will also keep a registered note on John Doe's record saying that on January 13th at 10:45pm the gun requested access, user levels were over 160, anger, depression, alcohol, and stressed brain activity were recognized and the gun was disabled.

John Doe and the government have access to these records just like looking at your bank statement online. John Doe and the government cannot alter, delete, or add anything to this record. The record is not public for anyone else other than the government in charge of the unit and the user itself. 

John Doe is sober and in a happy go lucky attitude and goes out to the forest to hunt some deer. The gun recognizes his identity and deems him fit for usage. The gun unlocks itself. John Doe selects an option from the list of game eligible for hunting and chooses deer. John Doe spots a deer in the near distance and points the gun at the deer. The gun scans the image of the deer and approves target selection. The gun also records temperature, wind speed, distance, and smart-target which increases accuracy and efficiency to shoot the gun. The gun shoot is silent and the deer falls still after one quick shot. John Doe successfully used his gun safely and accurately. The gun locks itself. The gun records what he shot, when he shot it and what his levels were when he requested and gained access.

John Doe sets his gun down for a minute and Buck Hunter picks the gun up to check it out. Buck Hunter may hold the gun but when he attempts to access the gun the gun denies him access because he is not John Doe. The gun will record that someone tried to access the gun as well as the time and identity of who tried to access it without clearance.

Level 2 clearance would be for protection purposes. If  you are in a situation where you need to use your gun for speculated protection you may enable the gun. It will record the information as per usual and a protection request will be submitted. If the gun deems you fit for usage it will unlock the gun for a small frame of time. In that time frame you may shoot the gun. It will flag the time, your levels, and who was targeted. A report will be submitted to the police for further investigation as well as arriving to the scene to perform further caution/action. When you aim the gun at another individual the gun will record the identity of that individual and their levels to check if they are deem fit for being targeted at as well as their criminal background etc.... If the gun is aimed at someone who is not worthy of being targeted at, the gun will disable itself. If the gun is used to injure or kill someone, the information will be flagged for urgent measures. The report will be submitted and contains all of your information, all of the other persons information as well as a live cam feed from the gun perspective as well as a back camera showing your perspective. It will provide a thorough evaluation of each persons psychological levels etc...

Level 3 clearance would be for the police force. They have to follow the same procedures and rules as people with Level 1 and Level 2 clearance but their time frame is extended and their guns have more options available to disarm, disable and gain information on their targets etc... Level 3 clearance would also be different in a few ways.

Cop 1 has Level 3 clearance. He sets his locked gun down onto the table to fill up his coffee. Cop 2 touches Cop 1's gun and gets tasered and disarmed to the ground for a minute or two. The gun is assigned to Cop 1 as the only legal target who may touch the gun period as well as use the gun. This would be to prevent criminals or malicious targets attempting to retrieve the gun from their belt and/or a close up encounter while the gun is unlocked and ready to use.

Level 3 clearance individuals can override guns of individuals with Level 1 and Level 2 if the gun/force deems it appropriate if the gun owners of Level 1 and Level 2 are no longer stable. They can touch the guns and disable the target selection which will lock the gun until the Level 1 or Level 2 is psychologically evaluated. 

Level 4 and higher would have more access to higher grade weapons, weapon abilities, information cataloging and target libraries as well as access to sensitive information etc... this would be for high ranking military personnel and the government. 

Each person whether using a gun or not must be evaluated twice a year. 
Each person must be evaluated when they obtain a drivers license.
Each person must be evaluated if they obtain a DUI, speeding ticket, criminal offense etc...
Each person must be evaluated when they apply for a gun permit/license to carry.
Each person must be evaluated when they purchase a weapon.
Each person must be evaluated when they enter a shooting range.
Each person will be evaluated if the weapon thinks it is necessary on a case-by-case basis.
Each person must be evaluated when arriving/departing from jail.
Each person must be evaluated when hired for a new job.
Each person must be evaluated when at airport security at each airport/layover.
Each person must be evaluated when exposed to extreme trauma/medical attention.
Each person must be evaluated when a severe incident regarding the weapon is used.
Each person must be evaluated if being a suspect of a crime case/investigation.
Each person may be evaluated more frequently the higher their level clearance is and/or position.


If the technology could exist to develop this kind of neural mind network that absorbs the collective thought of the human race and molds itself into the very core of everything. If we could record, track, and real-time update everyone's "everything" at every second of any given moment then I think we could maintain gun control, police brutality, and responsible usage and access of weapons.

Of course there are many illegal weapons out there and forged permits/licenses etc... so we would still have to deal with the black market and whatever else exists out there but I think a system like this would really be helpful to maintain a gaia-like balance in society. Imagine being able to open up an app to see where you stand on a psychological level. The ability to know exactly what causes anxiety or sadness and what brought you back up.What kind of jobs and activities maintained your levels at a healthy state versus situations that were toxic for  you. Only you and the government would have the ability to see this. And the only time the government would need to see it is during the routine check ups and/or if you get caught in a criminal situation.

Do you think this is too much of an invasion of privacy or do you think that it's necessary that we have a technology force guide is in the directions that benefit us in the best ways. What if there was a force that could literally prevent people from murdering other people with weapons or allowing people to commit suicide? 

Obviously this would not stop people from getting murdered or abused but I think it would at least take care of the whole gun mess that exists. I think the idea that I borrowed from Psychopass is really intrusive and in depth but I think it would be a good thing for society. 

We have apps that track our sleep cycles, our work productivity, our finances, our exercise activity and food consumption vs output etc... I don't see why it would be such a bad thing to have an app that can show you your psychological state at any moment based on the things that happen to you and around you etc...