Santa Fe, Parkland, the deaths roll on. We must do something, and now.

Before the NRA attacks me, I am a gun owner. I have hunted animals for food, was on my high-school rifle team and once broke 99 straight skeet birds with a 20-guage field gun unsuited for that purpose. I am a former NRA member. And I think the calls to repeal the Second Amendment are preposterous.

But enough is enough. We cannot keep ignoring the deaths of innocent people, especially kids. We cannot let the mentally ill, depressed teenagers, abusive spouses and spurned lovers with restraining orders, children, criminals and people on no-fly and other potential terrorism lists have unfettered access to guns.

Those of us who like guns and understand their proper use should lead the way to responsible regulations that make it harder for this tiny subset of our population to get their hands on them. And we should be willing to give up the most powerful armaments so that they cannot be turned into efficient killing tools by nut cases. The argument that knives are killing machines, too, does not cut it anymore.

We can, I hope, agree that guns that can shoot enormous amounts of ammo in very short bursts belong only in the hands of law enforcement and the military. “The right to bear arms” does not extend to nuclear weapons to make an extreme case, but what “arms” are allowed and reasonable? F-16 fighters? Tanks? Machine guns? Only a truly terrible shot needs an AR-15 to shoot a deer.

Democracy is a series of compromises. We agree to let the government control our behavior when it serves the public good. We regulate drugs, air traffic, highways, driving and financial transactions. We require training and a license before we let someone drive a multi-ton vehicle. There is no reason to withhold this logic from firearms.

There are simple rules that I learned from my father about gun safety and that I have passed on to my kids and now grandkids. I was chastised if I pointed even a toy gun at a human. I learned to double-check that there were no live shells in my gun when we finished shooting, and not to lean my rifle against a tree or fence with a live round in the chamber when we were hunting. And so on. Why shouldn’t every gun owner have to have the equivalent of driver’s ed? Would that be a terrible burden?

Trigger locks and safe gun cases are readily available. Would it be unreasonable to make it a crime to leave a useable firearm unsecured? You already have that liability, morally and financially already, so why not make it a rule so you or your kids are not injured or killed when someone else is irresponsible?

The NRA has become a lobby for gun manufacturers and conspiracy theorists. They claim that every reasonable step to avoid massacres creates a slippery slope towards an end to gun ownership. They repeat and repeat this myth to drown out those of us who want reasonable regulations. Polls say that the majority of Americans are with me on this — we want the government to make our kids safer and are willing to give up a little to get a lot.

Consider gun shows and private gun sales that make a joke of the reasonable expectation that a new gun owner could not be a nut or a criminal. Would it be a major curtailment of personal freedom to make ANY gun transfer subject to the same regulations that govern commercial gun sales, i.e., a background check and short waiting period?

Do you really believe the claims on the fringe that we have guns to protect ourselves against our government? A government with helicopters, missiles, drones and nuclear weapons? No, we have guns because we like to hunt and shoot, or just like guns, and because in some cases we want to protect ourselves. In all of these cases we should want, not resist, regulation.

Finally, 60 percent of all firearm deaths are suicides, twice the percentage of homicides. Only 4 percent of those who attempt suicide try again within five years. Suicide prevention should be a life-saving priority. So a short waiting period would potentially save lives when someone wants a gun to end it all.

In some states doctors are not even allowed to ask a patient if he or she owns a gun. That is ridiculous! Our medical professionals are on the front line in treating depression and other mental illnesses that can lead to suicide and they should be able to intervene when their patient is at risk. Lives could be saved if doctors could ask patients for the right to contact a loved one if their mental ability prevented them from acting rationally or it they became self-destructive.

Nothing I or others have proposed would impinge on our individual freedom. I just spent two days to get the paperwork right in order to buy, insure and register a car. Did I give up any freedom because the law required me to have insurance? Sure, but so did the other guy, so what I gave up got me reciprocal protection. And I cannot drive that car without a license, a license the state can revoke if I drive drunk. Again, we agreed to those limits on our freedom in return for collective safety. It should be the same for guns, in my opinion. I hope, for the sake of still-living kids, that others will agree and demand action from our elected officials.

Lee Keet lives in Saranac Lake.