Project 2026: National Gun Reform and Public Safety
From 1934's Tommy‑gun tax to 2022's Bruen ruling, America’s gun laws swing between public safety and individual rights, follow the pivotal milestones.
I usually start these with a note, that nothing is set in stone and that I am not emotionally attached, but this one is different, because it is incredibly close and emotionally connected. I THINK I have maintained an even hand with the emotion, I may have actually carved out TOO much of the initial emotion, in my effort to maintain some sort of objectivity. ALL of that to say, nothing I write is sacred, some just feel like it, everything should be critiqued, and pushed further if possible. Please; read, think, critique, contribute if you have better ideas.
A Personal Covenant
On 14 February 2018 a gentle‐giant of a coach named Aaron Feis confronted a gunman in Parkland, Florida, giving his life so that others might live — he was one of 17 dead, there were also 17 injured. Those who knew Aaron as a “chubby little red‑headed ten‑year‑old” saw him grow into the sort of mentor under which students thrive and every town treasures. We begin this chapter with his name because every data‑point that follows is, in truth, a story like Aaron’s, left unfinished.
Project 2026: National Gun Reform and Public Safety
Universal background checks and assault weapons bans.
Community-based violence prevention programs.
End qualified immunity for law enforcement.
I. The scale of the crisis
48,204 Americans were killed with firearms in 2022, the highest number ever recorded and a rate of 14.5 deaths per 100,000. Suicides made up 54 % and homicides 43 %.
656 mass‑shooting incidents were logged in 2024, while 95 occurred on school property, an average of one every four days. Pew Research Center
Firearms surpassed motor‑vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens in 2020 and have remained so. PMC
The economic cost of gun violence, medical care, lost productivity, policing, and quality‑of‑life, now exceeds $557 billion annually, or almost 2 % of GDP. (CDC, DOJ cost‑of‑injury model, 2024).
II. Americans are far ahead of their lawmakers
Polls stretch across ideology, geography, and gun‑ownership status:
SOURCE: MPR News & Pew Research Center
Nine in ten gun‑owners support at least one “common‑sense” reform; two in three support three or more.
III. How We Got Here — A Narrative Arc of American Gun Law
1. 1934 | The National Firearms Act (NFA)
Chicago was still echoing with the rat‑tat‑tat of Tommy guns when seven of Bugs Moran’s men were lined against a brick wall and executed in the St Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929. Newspapers splashed the photos nationwide, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; elected on a New‑Deal pledge to restore order, pushed Congress to treat machine guns like portable howitzers. The result was the NFA, a steep $200 tax (about $4,500 today) and federal registration for machine guns, silencers, and sawed‑off shotguns; measures aimed less at banning ownership than at pricing gangsters out of the market. Encyclopedia Britannica & ATF
2. 1968 | The Gun Control Act (GCA)
Four political assassinations in five years, President Kennedy (1963), Malcolm X (1965), Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy (1968), convinced a weary nation that mail‑order rifles and untracked handguns were a public‑health menace. Lee Harvey Oswald had ordered his Mannlicher‑Carcano rifle from a Chicago catalog for $19.95. The GCA finally closed that loophole: it barred interstate mail‑order sales, created the modern “prohibited‑person” category (felons, fugitives, the dangerously mentally ill), and required every gun dealer to obtain a federal license and keep bound‑book sales records. Time & ATF
3. 1993 | The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
Twelve years after John Hinckley’s bullet shattered Press Secretary James Brady’s skull during the Reagan assassination attempt, Congress passed a bill the NRA had blocked six times. The law imposed a five‑day waiting period; soon replaced by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that went live in 1998. Since then, the FBI has run more than 500 million checks and denied over 2 million prohibited buyers—a modern firewall that stops roughly 100 illegal purchases every day. Federal Bureau of Investigation & Brady United
4. 1994 | The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (FAWB)
Spurred by the 1989 Stockton schoolyard massacre and a wave of televised mass shootings, Senator Dianne Feinstein shepherded a ten‑year ban on military‑style rifles and magazines over ten rounds. During the ban (1994‑2004) mass‑shooting deaths fell 37‑70 %, depending on the study. When Congress let it lapse, the body‑count curve turned almost vertical: researchers estimate a 183 % surge in massacre fatalities in the decade that followed, an epidemiological before‑and‑after as stark as a clinical trial. PMC & Senate Judiciary Committee
5. 2005 | The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA)
By the early 2000s, cities from New York to New Orleans were suing gunmakers for negligent distribution, much as states had sued Big Tobacco. The industry found its shield in PLCAA, a law that grants firearms manufacturers a level of civil‑liability immunity unmatched by any other consumer product. In effect, a maker can sell AR‑15s with billboard taglines but face no discovery if those guns are trafficked into crime; only defective‑product suits survive. Wikipedia
6. 2008 – 2022 | The Supreme Court Trilogy
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) rewrote two centuries of precedent by declaring the Second Amendment an individual right to keep a handgun at home for self‑defense. McDonald v. Chicago (2010) applied that ruling to every state. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the Court erected a new “history‑and‑tradition” test, striking down New York’s century‑old concealed‑carry law and casting doubt on modern licensing schemes. Yet even Justice Scalia’s Heller opinion emphasized that “long‑standing, commonsense regulations” remain constitutional—a line the Court has never erased. Wikipedia & Supreme Court
Together these milestones trace an American pendulum: from public outcry against gangster violence to a Supreme Court that privileges 1791 musket norms over 21st‑century ballistics. Understanding that swing is essential to crafting reforms that are both historically grounded and future‑proof.
History shows that measured federal action saves lives without erasing the Second Amendment.
IV. Evidence‑based solutions that command majority support
V. The Progressive Path Forward
The Safe Communities Act (SCA)
Universal Background Checks closing private‑sale & gun‑show loopholes.
National ERPO baseline with due‑process guardrails and federal incentives.
21‑Day Cooling‑Off Standard (or proof of secure storage) for first‑time handgun & AR‑pattern buyers.
Federal Safe‑Storage Requirement modeled on U.S. Navy regs— tax credits for smart‑safe purchases.
Revive the Assault‑Weapons & High‑Capacity Magazine Ban with sunset‑proof reauthorization.
Regulatory & Executive Action
Revoke PLCAA immunity by re‑classifying reckless marketing as “willful negligence.”
ATF modernization — e‑Trace 2.0; co‑location with FBI NICS for 24‑hour “trigger pulls.”
Ghost‑gun serialization mandate; universal marking of 3‑D printed receivers.
CDC & NIH research restoration: $100 m per year through FY 2030 for firearm‐injury epidemiology.
Community Investment & Violence Interruption
$5 b Gun‑Violence Prevention Fund (as authorized in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, 2022) scaled to evidence‑based street‑outreach and hospital‑based programs; ROI averages $18 saved per $1 invested (Johns Hopkins URIP evaluation, 2024).
Reentry & trauma‑informed services; targeted cash‑transfer pilots (e.g., Advance Peace) shown to cut retaliatory shootings ‑55 % in Richmond, CA.
Data, Transparency & Corporate Accountability
Reinstate a modernized Tiahrt transparency rule— balancing privacy with real‑time traceability.
Gun‑dealer licensing reform: “three‑strike” ATF compliance regime; Civil fines indexed to volume.
Investor‑grade ESG disclosure of manufacturers’ safety innovation, recalls, and compliance actions.
VI. Constitutional stewardship
Nothing here conflicts with Bruen’s “history‑and‑tradition” test. Universal background checks, age limits, safe‑storage mandates, and licensing schemes all have analogues in 19th‑century public‑carry surety laws and early 20th‑century machine‑gun taxes. The Second Amendment, like all rights, is exercised within an ordered liberty that requires equal vigilance for public safety and individual freedom.
VII. Honoring Aaron — and the 48,000
“A good coach improves your game; a great coach improves your life.” Aaron Feis did both. The progressive agenda outlined above is not offered in abstraction but as a covenant with every family who sets out lunchboxes and never gets to fill them again. It is the promise that the majority will no longer be held hostage by a vocal minority and that evidence, courage, and compassion can converge to end a uniquely American tragedy.
By aligning federal power with overwhelming public will, investing in prevention rather than aftermath, and framing safety as the precondition of liberty, Project 2026 reclaims the inalienable right to life, secures the pursuit of happiness, and—finally—lets our coaches coach, our teachers teach, and our children learn without fear.
Go back to the beginning:
Top 25 Focus Areas for a Progressive Counter-Agenda
A couple of things - these are just my thoughts - I am not emotionally attached to any of this; it’s a starting place because starting with a blank sheet is torture for most people. FEEDBACK and COLLABORATION are necessary.
Now if we can just get right wing filth to vote for the things they say they care about.
It’s rare to see a piece bridge emotional clarity with policy logic so seamlessly. You grounded it not just in heartbreak, but in civic responsibility – and that’s where real reform begins.
Which is to say: you nailed the tone. I wouldn’t worry much.
Starting and ending with Aaron Feis was a smart call. A reminder that it's not just facts, figures, and stats – it’s people. Names. Faces. The bigger the number, the easier it is to emotionally check out. Bringing it back to Aaron at the end forces the reader to confront him face to face – and to see what a lack of policy has enabled.
The brief history and policy outline? Just right. Not too heavy, not too light – just enough for someone to say, “Why the hell haven’t we done this already?”
Because, well... in any country not kneecapped by what looks a whole lot like a Russian-compromised NRA, we’d call this baseline common sense. Instead, we’re stuck pretending basic safety is somehow controversial.
One thing I’d love to see added – even if it’s outside the scope of what you wrote – is a national buyback program.
Even voluntary. It won’t fix everything, but it’d at least show we’re finally treating this like the crisis it is. I’m not holding my breath, though – not unless we burn the two-party donor circus to the ground and start electing people who don’t think “thoughts and prayers” counts as legislation.
What you wrote isn’t just reform – it’s triage. Long past due, for a country that treats bullets like sacred rights and kids like acceptable losses.
It shouldn’t be bold to want children to survive school.
But here we are.
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(I'm going to add a second comment below of my usual tie-in with mental health)