banning firearm ownership outside the militia

If the goal is to get rid of #GunViolence in the United States, and this should be the goal, below is a path that will work.

Remember, the firearms industry makes money on gun violence. Any solution that preserves the firearms industry (#CapitalClass) making money from gun violence is going to be minimally effective.

1. Shutdown all (100% of) sales (and transfer) of firearms in the United States (and to buyers in the Western Hemisphere), except sales (transfers) to the government for eight years.

2. Full registration of firearms with a minimum $50/year registration fee on each firearm.

3. Require all firearms to be registered with state authorities before bringing them into a state.

4. Require states to formalize the rules of their "well regulated militias". How does one join? What rules apply to members? What is the organizational structure that puts the militia under command and control of the democratically elected government? What rules trigger expulsion from the militia? Also, who is in the militia and what rank/office they hold shall be published publicly.

5. Ban firearm ownership/possession by people who are not members of the military, police or the militia.

6. In five years, states that have brought gun violence to ZERO outside of members of the militia shall be authorized to resume private firearms sales within the state, if the state chooses.

7. The federal government shall simultaneously create a program to reduce gun violence by law enforcement. All members of law enforcement who discharge their firearm shall be terminated unless the officer can prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" to a federal oversight board that the shooting was necessary to protect a life in that moment. Law enforcement officers shall be allowed to work without carrying a firearm.

8. A program shall be created for racial, ethnic and religious communities that have a track record of being targeted by law enforcement or domestic terrorism. These communities shall be able to create militias authorized by the federal government for self defense. These militias shall have rules, rosters and command/control, as with the state authorized militias. These militias shall be responsible for disciplining their own members and expelling members who are a danger to themselves or society.

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This bill is not going to pass immediately. But if it gains five cosponsors in Congress every time there's a mass shooting, the "thoughts & prayers" weasels will come to the table with compromises.

how Congress could reduce police misconduct and unnecessary violence

License people empowered by states (and federal government) to arrest people or carry firearms as part of their professional duties.

The US Constitution creates a duty for the federal government to protect civil rights†, so, it's kinda crazy that there are hundreds of thousands of people who can kill people and deprive citizens of their rights who aren't licensed by the federal government.

The federal government should be supportive of states granting licenses as they see fit with a couple obvious caveats:

Using elections to end the perpetual war

The American people have become weary of the open-ended, blank-check war initiated in response the 9/11 attacks over twelve years ago.

My sense is that people vaguely suspect three things about the conflict:

1.       The actual perpetrators have either been caught or killed;
2.       The war has become a self-perpetuating bureaucratic entity that has made itself immune from accountability;
3.       The national security state has taken power granted in response to the 9/11 attacks and used these powers against the American people or reserves the right to use them against political dissenters, like the Occupy movement.

I propose forming a coalition to end the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) passed after the 9/11 attacks.