A 'Deeply Libertarian' Plan to Restrict Gun Sales

After this month’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, support for restricting access to firearms has seen a sharp rise. Ranged against the movement are Second Amendment activists who, if increasingly unpopular, are nevertheless refusing to budge.

This might therefore be a good time to consider a middle-ground proposal developed by two law professors, Fred Vars of the University of Alabama and my Yale colleague Ian Ayres. Their idea was originally aimed at reducing gun suicides. This is no small problem. The number of deaths from mass shootings each year, while horrific, is dwarfed by the 21,000 people who take their own lives annually using guns. But the authors’ suggestion might also be useful in reducing mass shootings -- and without provoking arguments over the scope of the right to bear arms (more on that in a later column).