In the wide world of problems, there are a few topics I find a waste of time to discuss. Oh, not for everyone. People with higher pay grades should be discussing them, but the majority of us aren't going to fix issues halfway around the world. There are issues right here at home that seem impossible to discuss rationally. This week has proven that with the executive order on gun control issued by President Barack Obama.

This issue is probably the most difficult for me to talk about because I'm really middle of the road. I get run over by people on both sides. I grew up looking at guns in my home the same way as I saw the chain saw: tools. When operated properly the wood pile was stacked high and the freezer was full of future pot roasts and stews. We were taught weapon safety and there was a fair respect given.

I never understood the want to confiscate guns or create gun-free zones, and then I went to a city. Did you know there are places with absolutely no bears or moose or wolves or coyotes or any other wild animals to shoot? It seemed a bit surprising to me. There are just people. Bazillions of people with their lives all stacked on top of one another and enormous sewer systems that completely freak me out. Really. It's just a lot for me to start doing the math of what that many people in high concentration can produce. I digress. The point is, there are more people to consider than just Alaskans in this debate, and I'm trying. Why? Because more Americans are dying from gunshots than car wrecks. I own guns. They are part of my Alaska life, but we need to talk -- or maybe listen -- or maybe both.

Being a gun owner who can't stand the positions of the National Rifle Association can't be that rare. Come on, people. I know most of us own guns and we can't possibly think that doing nothing -- in fact knowing nothing -- is the way to solve problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is prohibited from studying deaths by firearms and how to prevent them in America. What information could they find that would be considered dangerous by the NRA and their manufacturing owners?

It's worth noting the U.S. government funds studies about the effects of video games such as "World of Warcraft." We funded $175,000 more to determine if "cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior" than we have studied gun violence. I realize that study may seem a bit silly, but it would be forbidden to do experiments to see if the presence of a gun would make Japanese quail engage in more bully behavior.

As the president pointed out in his CNN town hall about his new, and quite modest, proposals, suicide by gun is an epidemic. Alaska isn't a stranger to this fact. If we don't like the president's plan, why don't we come up for some of our own? The status quo is killing us.

Most people know when they are hitting bottom. Many engage in alcohol or other substances in an effort to self-medicate. We don't have a safe place for people to volunteer their weapons for keeping until they or the depressed person in their home is through a rough patch. Here's the PSA, "If you, or someone in your home, is struggling with depression, please seek medical treatment. If a weapon in your home presents an added danger there is safe storage in your town. When you feel the danger is passed, your gun will be returned to you, no questions asked."

Closing the background check loophole for gun shows is a start. Honestly, people. Before you start with the Second Amendment spew, you also have a right to consume alcohol thanks to the repeal of the 18th Amendment by the 21st Amendment. It's the only amendment that was ratified by state ratifying conventions rather than state legislatures. They took that right pretty seriously. Oh, but guess what. You don't get to sell moonshine at your lemonade stand, or your awesome mojito recipe at the school bake sale, or homebrew -- no matter how fabulous yours may be -- at your yard sale.

Why? Because though you have that right, alcohol is regulated. Thirty to forty percent of guns are sold outside of regulated shops, according to a 1996 study, which is the best data we've got since the gun control lobby has made studying the topic of guns in this country so impossible. If I owned a gun store, I would be so happy that I didn't have to compete with all the homegrown gun sellers. Imagine if up to 40 percent of booze sales weren't checked for legal age or DUI frequent fliers. Oh, maybe you'd feel less safe on the roads.

Did you scoff? Are these ideas silly? What's your idea? Is it better? Awesome! We'll take it. It's going to take all of us -- including gun owners -- to find a solution.

Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster.