Unifying gun laws in America wouldn't just dike up the blood tide, it could actually increase the responsible shooting public's choice of guns. The sheer number and variety of weapons kept from the US marketplace by the gun lobby is frustrating and hilarious, considering that their war-cry elicits voter anger like almost no other.
Let's think about this: how about a National Energetics License Program[0]? Totally free. Base it on something like the Security Clearance program, but make it so it doesn't cost a bazillion dollars. Measure the amount of energy (kJ/S) the handheld can put downrange in, eh, 10 seconds. Divide it by the mass-volume of the device. Create several classes based on this. Class 1: equivalent to single shot weapons, anyone can have it. Class 2: equivalent to low-capacity semiautos, revolvers, requires something like Public Trust clearance. Class 3: equivalent to high cap semiauto, Secret clearance. Class 4: full auto, Top Secret. Etc etc.
Also, in my opinion, suppressors don't make it easier to liquidate schoolchildren, but they do keep the quiet outdoors. Nix the tax stamp. Also also? Those eight hundred dollar Chinese M-14 knockoffs? Belgian rifles? Mil-surp SVT-40s? Oh yeah, keep 'em comin'. Colt might be pissed. Screw 'em.
In other words, it's a slightly less onerous process than the one you have on your Kia. It would prevent . . almost everything that hits the news, because damn, there is nothing tracking rapid fire weapons, at all. I could drive to the next state over and buy almost literally anything cash in hand, short of an actual full auto. This means that I'd at least need to show I'm not a flake of the first order.
And shooters would legit be pretty damn happy. Unless it's that guy with the Rivian who just shovelled fifty thousand dollars into buying a tenth-hand PKM because FULL AUTO. He might be pissed. Screw him.
But if you screw with your NEL, oh man, you would be done. So, so, so done. Lose the weapon or get it stolen[1] when it's unsecured? Yeah, you got problems. You'll get bad shit for anything bad that happens with your weapon. Hell, how parents dodge accessory charges for most of these shootings is a mystery to me. In Florida, this one chick left an AR on the sofa with a full mag, a round racked, safety off (State 4, aka Instant state, which means SOMETHIN'S GETTIN' SHOT). Anyway, her kid grabbed it after getting pushed around and shot his buddies outside. The little bastard's in jail basically forever, but her and the fam?> Nah, they're good. That is hot bullshit, and if you don't think so, I'm not sure what else to say.
[0] We used to have citizen shooting agencies, back in the day when people didn't think the government was coming to take their babies and testicles.
[1] Don't get me started on pawn shops that stay in brisk business while somehow getting a quarter of their inventory "stolen" every six months. Motherfuckers, you're not even trying to hide what you're doing . .