The founding fathers clearly state that Americans should be able to keep their arms in order to protect themselves from a tyrannical government.
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188
However, when firearms are misused they create grave social harm. We also lack a fool-proof system to identify the threats versus law-abiding citizens during background checks. Legislation should affirm our right to bear arms and impose a 10% tax on sales of guns and ammunition to internalize the cost of this social harm. This tax would fund programs to support victims such as Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grants & Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).