Location, Location, Location

by Matt DeNoto

Today I have a couple of humble suggestions for relatively simple ways to make a couple of changes we might all like to see.

My first suggestion relates to guns.  There seems to be an ever-raging debate between those who believe people have an inalienable right to own guns and those who feel that guns are made only to kill and should therefore be taken out of people’s hands.  While it may be true that people kill people, they often use guns to do it.  And while we can’t get rid of the people, we can in theory get rid of the guns.

But there are plenty of enthusiasts out there who are very respectful of their guns, who just want to use them to hunt or, in an emergency, for self defense.  They practice strict gun safety and would never consider using their weapons for any illegal actions.

There may be no easy way to reconcile the two camps.  As long as the NRA has some lobbying power and the Constitution is interpreted as it has been for decades, people who want guns will be able to buy and keep them.  But many guns find their way into the hands of criminals.  Accidents kill children and gang violence affects innocent bystanders.

While the debate may not be new, perhaps some new technology can help ease the tension.  These days GPS chips are finding their way into many different forms of consumer electroni cs.  Mobile phones, cars and even laptops are being fitted with the location devices.  Why don’t we use this same technology in something a little more old school?

Putting GPS chips in guns would mean that those who simply wish to own their guns in peace could do so, because at any time it could be confirmed that those guns were where they are supposed to be.  But those who use guns to commit crimes would find that they are suddenly unable to hide.  The gun might be thrown away, but it couldn’t disappear.

I imagine there would still be an uproar from those who wish not only to own their guns, but to own them in secret, stockpiling and getting concealed weapons permits.  But they’ll have a hard time garnering sympathy when this change could have a major impact on gun use in violent crimes.

So anyway, that’s one suggestion.

The other one is a little more dear to the Green Revolution.  It relates to oil.  Besides its harmful environmental effects, there is also the oft-referenced political problem associated with our dependence on foreign oil.  Importing so much oil requires us to do business with dangerous regimes and governments that don’t much care for us.

But we love our oil.  We love it so much we don’t care who we get it from.  Right?  Perhaps that’s not fair.  Perhaps the true issue is that we don’t think about it much.  We don’t have to.  It’s not as though w e as consumers are ever given the choice between buying gasoline made from foreign or domestic sources.

What if that were not the case?  What if gas stations had to label their sources?

When you walk into a Target or a Wal-Mart and pick up a product, almost always there will be a label indicating from whence the product came.  For many products, that label says, ‘Made In China.’

What if, when you pulled up to a gas station, there was a big label on the pump that said, ‘Made In Iran?’  Would you feel so comfortable shelling out your money if you knew where it was going?

I imagine that there has already been a debate about this, that it took place a long time ago and the powerful oil lobby was able to quash the issue.  But perhaps the time is right, now that we have admitted more than once that we are addicted to oil.  Maybe now we are ready to start giving people reasons to acknowledge the consequences of paying for foreign oil, when we could be using plug-in hybrids, natural gas, or maybe even plain old domestic oil.

Just something to think about.  Enjoy your day.