I'm a conflicted conservative - I'm pro gun but want more gun control

Does that make me less of a conservative? Does the fact that I fully understand that banning AR-15's and the likes would do little to curb events like yesterday but still wouldn't have a single problem with a ban on them make me an embarrassment to the base of the party I align mostly with? Tell me why I should be shunned by members of the party I identify strongly with because I slightly disagree with most of its members on one issue. Just because it's a major issue doesn't make me less of a conservative.

Here are my beliefs and thoughts on mass shootings and how to best prevent them:

1. Mental health, not the gun, is the main issue at hand here. We as a society have GOT to stop turning a blind eye to potential threats out of fear of being told to mind our own business. Adults and children alike need to grow accustomed to and be very comfortable with both asking for and offering help.

2. We have to work together to find ways to lessen and discourage ALL forms of bullying. That includes the major form for our children today - cyber bullying. Instagram, Snapchat, and yes, Facebook offer avenues to bully others on a stage that none of today's young adults ever experienced. Texting rumors, lewd pictures, and mean-spirited jokes about kids means that the subject of the bullying is now on display to so many more at such a faster rate than we ever were subjected to when we were in school. This has a tremendous affect on a child's mind and it has to stop.

3. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. I completely understand this. Trust me. However, I still believe that we have a moral obligation to put more regulations in place to make background checks when buying any gun more thorough. Yes, I said "more regulations" and "any gun". It doesn't make me a liberal by any stretch of the imagination. When students all unanimously agree that red flags were present on a person's social media accounts, it's time to include reviews of social media accounts in background checks. Perhaps these background checks are done by "panels" so to speak. Three reviewers with psychology backgrounds are tasked with individually reviewing a person's social media background and a majority of them have to give the okay. That could be in addition to the obvious existing protocols in place.
Yes, this would result in a longer wait time to get your gun. You wait at the DMV for hours to renew your driver's license, you wait in line at the grocery store, you wait weeks for tax refunds to arrive, you wait for an insurance adjuster to review any insurance claim you have. Why can't you wait a little longer to receive the go-ahead to purchase a gun. A gun is a powerful tool that only responsible adults should be able to obtain and use.

4. Piggy backing on #3 - Semi-automatic rifles such as AR-15s and such should be banned again. Now here is where I really go back and forth. I feel like in a literal sense, we as citizens could use one of these types of weapons in the very unlikely event that we are ever overthrown by our own government or by an invading foreign government. However on the flip side of that argument, if any foreign government ever tries to invade us or if our own government ever tries to overthrow us, no gun (regardless of type) is going to go far in helping you defend yourself when most governments have an airforce that can push a button and annihilate you if they wanted to. They know you have guns so why would they bring guns to that fight too? They're going to use something more powerful than a gun, such as bombs. I'm obviously talking in extremes here - don't take my words and think I expect our government or another government to come and bomb us any time soon.
Bottom line: I have very little problem with banning these types of weapons for citizens.



Those are my human being thoughts. They shouldn't make me any less of a conservative and certainly shouldn't make me a liberal. I feel like the problem with our government is that Republicans are afraid of bending on these issues out of fear of being shunned by their own party and voters. Democrats are afraid of bending on their side for the same reasons. It's time we all come together, as humans first, parents 2nd, and a nation 3rd and figure this shite out. I've prayed many times since yesterday. I've prayed for the children who experienced fear like few of us can imagine, both those who didn't make it and those who were able to hug their parents and friends afterward. I've prayed for those poor parents who will never hug their child again. I've prayed for the shooters family as well because regardless of their faults, they've lost a loved one now too. But although I go to church and believe in the power of prayer, I also understand that prayer alone will not fix this.

WE are the answers to our own prayers. We pray for a solution to this problem but we fail to see that God has given us brains and the ability to work together to formulate solutions. THAT'S what God has answered our prayers with and until we wake up and realize that, nothing will change.

We have to figure this thing out. We have to.