To all people whose conscience has been shaken, once again, by yet another school shooting, let's say it loud and clear: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Our political leadership has failed us over and over and over, and they will let us down again. We knew they would, and we knew that their criminal negligence would lead to more deaths in our children's schools. At this point, we feel that shouting and asking them to do their job just won't be enough to assuage our consciences. We have to do the job ourselves. This is why we will work or support the work of presenting a project for a new federal law, which will contain, among its more salient features, the following provisions:

• All gun owners will be licensed and all guns will be registered in a central, national registry. Strict requirements for storage and safety of guns will be compulsory and subject to periodic inspections by local enforcement agencies.
• Licensing will be granted only to 21 year old and older applicants, and will need to be renewed periodically (stable income, background check, medical clearance and safety course will be required, among other things)
• The licensing procedures and requirements will vary depending on the types of guns, which will be classified as war, hunting, sporting, self defense, and collection guns.
• Counterfeiting of gun licenses will be a criminal offense.
• Gun dealers will be held civilly and criminally responsible as accessories to the crimes perpetrated with the weapons sold to unlicensed individuals
• Owners who fail to report theft or loss will be civilly and criminally responsible for crimes committed with guns registered to their names.
• The registry will be public, and law enforcement, school authorities, and any other person with a legitimate claim will have access to relevant information.

We firmly believe that, far from infringing the second amendment right, these restrictions are rather a more efficient way to protect the rights of legitimate gun owners who, as law abiding citizens, are more than willing to assume the responsibilities and take all the necessary precautions that the exercise of this right entails and requires, in the knowledge that any abuse not only constitutes a serious and certain threat to people's lives and fortunes, but it also undermines the stability and security of the legitimate exercise of their own right.

Except for the right to live, no other right whatsoever can be exercised without limits and conditions. Nobody in their right mind would dare to allege that motor vehicle licensing and registration laws constitute infringements on the rights to drive or own a car. And ridicule would be the right response to anybody that maintains that even the sacred right to freedom can be exercised without limits and conditions, as our prisons are a veritable testament to the stupidity of such a preposterous claim.

Furthermore, we, the signatories of this petition, bind our honor to the promise to refrain from voting any candidate who fails to make the explicit and unambiguous commitment to support a law containing these or equivalent propositions.