In light of the current tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I have been listening to as many sides of the current gun control discussion as I can and am amazed at the plethora of different solutions being proposed - most of which will be forgotten by the end of the month as we go on to other things in the never ending news cycle, or just plain ignored.  Let's face it, we Americans are generally much talk and very little action!

I would like to add one modest proposal to the mix which would work, would be practical and easy to enforce, would satisfy gun control advocates and gun freedom groups like the NRA, and could be implemented by Congress and the courts in a very short time.

My father grew up in China as the son of missionary parents.  Their compound happened to be located right next door to the public execution grounds in Shanghai.  He got to see the proposal I am making work, first hand.

In China, at the time, if you created any crime and were in possession of any weapon which could have been used to kill someone, it was assumed that you would have given the chance, and you were summarily executed.  While there was plenty of crime in China during those days, violent crime involving weapons was virtually non-existent.

So, here is my proposal - two parts.

1.  Pass a law that mandates an automatic 10 year prison sentence for anyone who is convicted of committing a crime using any gun - .22 to bazooka.  No loopholes.  No compassionate exceptions for circumstance or age or anything else.  12 year olds to 112 year olds would all face the same response for their intentional choice.  Anyone could keep their weapon of choice, with the possible exception of those with magazines over a certain size.  But, they would be held accountable for how they used those weapons - a significant difference between us and countries like Switzerland and Israel where most citizens possess semi-automatic weapons.

2.  U.S. Manufacturers and importers would be required to pay a percentage of the cost of any gun they made or imported towards the cost of incarcerating those who chose to misuse their weapon of choice - again, no exceptions or loopholes.

This would also satisfy the organizations representing guards and personnel in our prison system who, consistently lobby against liberalization of Marijuana laws because it would threaten their job security as the prison population is decreased for Marijuana infractions.

So, this is a win/win proposal. The only people who could possibly object would be the criminal element who most consistently is responsible for the bloodbath that plagues our nation.