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All About GST on Export of Software ServiceGoods & Services Tax (GST):GST is the complete mechanism to bring in numerous indirect taxes under one umbrella and thus rationalising the whole tax system. GST engulfs Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST), Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST), State Goods & Services Tax (SGST), Union Territory Goods & Services Tax (UTGST). When any sales are made within a state, then CGST & SGST/ UTGST are applied as GST taxes. When Purchase/ Sales cross the border of a state, then IGST is applied.Zero- rated supplyZero-rated supply meansExport of goods or services orSupply of goods or services to Special Economic ZoneTypes of Business OrganisationsBusiness organisations & operations can be of different types. One, which we are covering here specifically are those which are captive unit. Captive units are those which are controlled and governed by parent company which is located abroad. Whatever the Indian unit does, it is for the foreign parent only. All the services of Indian company are consumed by parent company. Thus operating as a backend office and hence termed as captive unit.Another form of organisation being dealt here is an independent organisation which exports software services to its clients who are located abroad.The difference is that such independent organisations do not cater to only one parent company and is not operating as a backend office for only one client.Taxable Event / Time of SupplyTaxable event means the point of time when provision of service will be taxed. In case of such service exporter, the point of taxable event will be:Place of SupplySince the service is being exported out of India, here the supply will not be the place of consumption of service, rather it will be the place of actual provision of service i.e. India. E.g. Service is being provided from Delhi office and is exported directly to parent company located in USA, or client located in USA, the place of supply will be Delhi.If multiple locations in India are being used to supply such service to foreign company, the point of provision of service will be the place from where invoice is raised. In case the place of supply is not identifiable then place of supply will be the place which is most directly related with such supply.Registration RequirementIf the Indian service provider is already registered under Service Tax, migration is to be done before 30.06.2017 or from 01.07.2017 as per the provisions or arrangements made by Govt.If there is more than one place of such service provision, all of them are to be registered under GST having same PAN but different state GSTIN. IEC (Import Export Code) is to be mentioned while taking registration under GST. Such place of provision of service must be having reasonable permanent establishment from where services can be provided. Registration is required only for the places from where supplies are being made.Export of Software service is not covered under composition scheme, hence, regular registration is to be done. Compulsory registration is required for exporters under GST even if the turnover is less than Rs.20 Lakhs.Value of SupplyValue of supply is the transaction value on which the bills are raised. This transaction value can include incidental expenses like packing, commission, interest or late fee/ penalty for late payment or subsidies but not to include GST. Also, discount in invoices decided after the supply is made cannot be reduced from transaction value.If the transaction value is not determinable, specifically in the case of providing software export service to foreign parent company, Transfer Pricing provisions have to be referred. Hence, Transfer Pricing Study plays an important role and is to be conducted in time with the help of proper consultation.Consumption of ServiceConsumption of outward service here will be in foreign territory. Consumption which actually is to be considered would be inward supplies which will act as input and input tax paid can be claimed as refund. Inward supplies means supplies of goods or services received from vendor for executing software export service.What is INPUTInput means all those services and materials used directly for the purpose of rending the service. In the present scenario, some of the examples of Input would be:Internet facility, Stationery, ConsumablesManpower, Security Guard, Annual MaintenanceComputer maintenance services, Insurance of employeesIt is important to mention that there are various inputs on which input credit is not available. Such inputs include:Motor Vehicles, Food & Beverages, Outdoor Catering, Beauty treatment, Health Services, Cosmetic & Plastic SurgeryMembership of Club, health & fitness centre, Rent-a-cab, life insurance and health insurance.Travel benefits extended to employees on vacation such as leave or home travel concessionWorks contract services for construction of immovable property (except plant & machinery)Supplies received for construction of immovable property (except plant & machinery) taken up on own.Taxes paid to suppliers who are under composition levy scheme., any goods or services used for personal consumptionGoods lost, stolen, destroyed, written off or disposed of by way of gift or free samples.Taxes paid on account of order by department for wilful default, confiscation or detention in transit. Confiscation and detention in transit apply in case of goods, hence, it is not applicable on present scenario of export of software services.It is to be noted that input tax credit will be allowed before 20th October after the end of financial year to which such input tax credit pertains or filing of annual return, whichever is done earlier. Last date for furnishing annual return under form GSTR -9 is 31st December after end of Financial Year. It is hereby suggested to file annual return by 20thOctober so that there is no accidental chance of losing any credit.Apportionment of Credit:If input goods or services are used partly for the purpose of providing such software export service and partly for other purposes, credit of input tax will be available only for portion actually used for such service export business.If input goods or services are being used for exempted goods or services, then such portion will not be allowed as input credit. In the present scenario, software export services are Zero Rated, not exempt, hence, input portion on these Nil rated services will be allowed for set-off from output tax liability. However, since there is no output tax liability, such input will be refunded.Input of Capital GoodsCapital Goods are those which are capitalised in the book of accounts and are not short-term in nature. When such capital goods are purchased, the buyer pays excise/ VAT on them. In the present law, the credit of such taxes or duties paid is available in two years at 50% each. The whole amount of duty/ tax paid is booked in full, however, while discharging output tax liability, 50% of input credit on capital goods is available for set-off.However, in GST 100% credit is allowed at the time of purchase. If depreciation has been claimed on the tax component of capital goods, input tax credit of such tax component is not allowed.Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM)Reverse Charge Mechanism is applicable to all persons registered under GST. Any person registered in GST takes services or materials from an unregistered person, then such registered person has to pay applicable GST on such input or input services. Such reverse payment of taxes by receiver of supply is called Reverse Charge Mechanism. The payer will get credit of such tax paid on reverse charge. In present scenario, since the supply is Zero Rated, hence, tax paid under reverse charge will be refunded.Services imported which are utilised for the purpose of rendering software export service are covered under reverse charge mechanism, indicating that GST on import service is to be paid under reverse charge. If tax on such import services have been paid in full before the implementation date of GST, then no tax is to be paid after GST date. However, if no or part payment has been paid, then any payment paid after implementation of GST will be taxed under GST provisions.Input Service Distributor (ISD)There are situations when the business is operated from different locations. However, only one office receives all the invoices of input goods & services. The tax paid on such services by the said office is then distributed to other working offices according to their contribution in providing the software export service. This office which distributes Input Tax Credit (ITC) is called Input Service Distributor (ISD).Points noteworthy for ISD:For distributing such credit, it is necessary that all the offices are registered under same PAN and ISD is to be registered as ISD while taking registration under GST.Mandatory registration of ISD is required under GST regime.GST Return of ISD will be GSTR-6 which is to be filed by 13th of the next month.Other office to which ISD distributes credit has to accept or reject such credit between 15th – 17th of the next month.Input credit available from services received prior to the day of implementation of GST and invoices received after the date, such input credit shall be eligible for distribution.Conditions for distribution of credit by ISD:The ISD can distribute credit against a document.Excess credit is not to be distributed.Credit attributable to a particular office to be distributed to that office only.If there are more than one office to whom credit is to be distributed, then, pro- rata distribution to be done based on turnover.InvoicingInvoicing for Software Export service providers is not a very big concern as the provisions are same, however, only format has been changed. For understanding purpose, a draft format is being enclosed at the end of this book. Only few major parts to be understood:Service Accounting Code (SAC): This is the code that is assigned to each type of services. Depending upon theexact classification of the service, it is to be mentioned on the invoice.Type of GST: The invoice format has CGST, SGST and IGST as separate columns to be filled for tax portion. Here, nothing will be mentioned as software export services are Zero Rated.The text to be used is: “Supply Meant For Export On Payment Of IGST” – if IGST has been paid on the exports. “Supply Meant For Export Under Bond Or Letter Of Undertaking Without Payment Of IGST”– if IGST has not been paidPayment of TaxesThough, output tax liability is disregarded in this scenario as Software Export service is Zero Rated, however, tax payments may arise on account of:Interest, late fee or any other paymentTax, interest, penalty as awarded by GST Department officerReverse ChargeRefundUnderstanding refund mechanism is important in export service business. The reason being such services are zero rated, however, tax is paid on inputs which is refundable. Proper method has been devised for claiming refund for every month. Following points are worth understanding for smooth flow of refund:Electronic cash or credit ledger contains details of taxes, interest, penalty, fees etc. paid or to be paid. The balance after netting off payable and paid tax maybe payable or refundable.Refund can be claimed by furnishing returns as specified.Documents specifying that pa yment of such input have been made and such tax burden has not been passed on to the customer.If such refund is less than Rs. 2 Lakhs, a declaration in place such documentation would be sufficient for this purpose.The Departmental Officer referred to as Assessing Officer, will refund 90% of the total refund, on a provisional basis until clearance of complete refund based on assessment of documents. Such complete assessment will be done in 60 days from the date of receipt of application by the officer.The order will be passed for this refund in FORM GST RFD -04.Such refund will be paid directly to the applicant by issuing a payment advice in FORM GST RFD -05.If default has been committed in filing of returns or payment of any tax, interest etc, the officer may hold the payment of refund and also can deduct any tax, interest, penalty from the refund amount before payment of such refund. The order will be in FORM GST RFD- 06.If the whole of refund is completely adjusted against such pending demands, such details will be made available in Part A of FORM GST RFD -07.If officer is of the view that refund is being claimed by fraud and the matter is under litigation at higher authorities, the whole amount of refund will be on hold. Such order will be made available in Part B of FORM GST RFD -07.If the matter after litigation results in granting of refund, the amount of refund held, will be paid with interest upto 6% maximum.The relevant date from where refund will be counted as eligible will be:The date of receipt of payment if services rendered before receipt of payment.The date of issue of invoice if payment is received as advance before issue of invoice.Where refund arises as a result of any order by authority or court and application for refund is filed after such order, the same shall be paid with interest upto 9% if refund is not paid within 60 days from such application.Where such services are exported, STPI certificate is to be obtained for proving export of service.Services given to units under Special Economic Zone are to be treated in similar fashion as exports. It shall be noted that when such service is given to SEZ, a specified officer of SEZ certifies receipt of services. That certificate is to be kept in record for refund purposes.Documents required for refund:A statement containing the number of and date of invoices, Bank Realisation Certificate or Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate.Services made to a Special Economic Zone – A statement containing the number and date of invoices, the evidence regarding endorsement and the details of payment, along with proof.A declaration that SEZ unit or SEZ developer has not claimed input tax credit of tax paid by supplier of such software services.A declaration to the effect that burden of Tax, interest or any other amount claimed as refund has not been passed on to any other person, where amount of refund is less than Rs.2 Lakhs.For the sake of knowledge of the reader :- A certificate from Chartered Accountant or a cost accountant is to be annexed in Form GST RFD – 01, which will certify that burden of tax that has been claimed as refund, has not been passed on to any other person. Such certificate is required in case the refund amount is greater than Rs.2 Lakhs.However, in case of Zero Rated supplies, such certificate is not required to be furnished.When refund becomes due, resulting from order of authority or court, reference number of the order and a copy of the order.In case of supply without payment of tax under bond or letter of undertaking i.e. with or without payment of Integrated Goods and Services Tax, refund of input tax credit shall be granted as per the following formula:Refund Amount = (Turnover of zero-rated supply of services) x Net ITC ÷ Adjusted Total TurnoverWhere,-“Refund Amount” means the maximum refund that is acceptable;“Net ITC” means input tax credit availed on inputs and input services during the period;“Turnover of zero-rated supply of services” means the value of the software service rendered without payment of tax under bond or letter of undertaking, calculated in the following manner:-Zero-rated supply of services is the total of payments received during the period for such supply of services and supply of services completed for which payment received in advance in any period prior to the relevant periodSubtracted byadvances received for services for which the supply of services has not been completed during the relevant period;“Adjusted Total turnover” means the turnover of software services excluding any exempt supplies turnover.This definition of adjusted total turnover has been modified keeping in view limited scope of the topic.Acknowledgement of application for refund filed will appear in FORM GST RFD -02 on portal and will be available for viewing to the applicant within 3 to 15 days.If there are any deficiencies, such deficiencies will appear in FORM GST RFD – 03 on portal.The refund granting is subject to a condition of non- prosecution of applicant for evading tax of more than Rs.2.5 Crores in the preceding 5 years.Where the officer or authority is satisfied that no or part of refund is not allowable, a notice will be issued in FORM GST RFD -08 asking the applicant to furnish their reply in FORM GST RFD -09 within 15 days. Thereby making final order in FORM GST RFD -06.A Ledger is maintained on portal for payable or credit available to be utilised. Refund mechanism to operate by debiting or crediting the ledger balance.Maintenance of database, documents or records:Database needs to be maintained to ensure smooth data flow along with processing and feeding of any informationwhile complying with GST Law. Although complete database maintenance is case specific, however, major points have been highlighted:Vendor Details: Name, Address, PAN, GSTIN, HSN Code of goods being purchased, SAC (Service Accounting Code) of services.Buyer Details: Name, Address, PAN, GSTIN, SAC (Service Accounting Code) of services.Backup of all entries being feeded whether through accounting software or through maintenance of excel sheets.All bills of inward supplies being goods or services consumed, all invoices raised to customers, Credit notes, debit notes, receipt vouchers, payment vouchers, refund vouchersCalculation done for netting off output tax liability and input tax credit. In the present case, the output tax liability will be Zero.All applications for refund and their complete files for refund processing, all sorts of communication with GST department.Certificate from STPI (Software Technology Park of India) for approving Software Services being exported, Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate, all type of communication with customer with regard to rendering of service.IEC (Import Export Code) certificate, Bank StatementsAccounts Books to be properly maintained and kept upto date.Returns to be filed & their timing:S. No.GST ReturnPurposeDue Date1.GSTR – 1Outward Supplies being Software Services10th of Next Month2.GSTR – 2Inward Supplies received15th of Next Month3.GSTR – 3Monthly Return for netting off Output & Input tax20th of Next Month4.GSTR – 6Return for Input Service Distributor13th of Next Month5.GSTR – 9To be filed by all persons covered under GST31stDecember of Next Financial Year*Any Rectification/ omission can be taken care of only in next return.Credit of Existing InputsCredit of existing inputs lying as on 30.06.2017, will be carried forward and can be claimed by filing form GST TRAN -1 by 30.09.2017.How to integrate with GST ReturnsManual Feeding provisions have been made for filing GST Returns with some information being auto-populated. However, purchasing a recognised accounting software and hiring consultants for monthly review & filing is much favourable.Few Other important FactsDeemed Export means export to EOU/ STPI/ Consulate/ Embassy etc.Export, Supply to Special Economic Zone and Deemed Exports can be viewed under the same light with some particular differences.Once voluntary registration is taken it cannot be surrendered for 1 year.Once registration is taken, exemption limit of Rs.20 Lacs do not apply, i.e. all provisions are to be complied in totality.Business organisation must authorise a person for handling compliance for ease of use in terms of signatures and other verification part including dealing with GST department.Annexure – 1Form GST PMT – 01 is a liability register which will show liabilities in terms of tax, interest, penalty, late fee or any other amount payable.Form GST PMT – 02 will show input tax credit available.Form GST PMT – 03 will be used by GST Officer for making order of any rejection of refund.Form GST PMT – 04 will be used for communicating any discrepancy in tax liability data to the GST Officer.Form GST PMT – 05 is the cash ledger account which will depict tax, interest, penalty, late fee or any amount deposited or paid therefrom.Form GST PMT – 06 will generate challan for entering details of payment for tax, interest, penalty, fee etc. Such challan will be valid for 15 days.Form GST PMT – 07 where payment as per challan has been deducted from bank but challan identification number was not generated, this form will be used to show the initiation of payment.Annexure – 2Summary of Refund FormsSr. NoForm NumberContent1.GST RFD-01Application for Refund2.GST RFD-02Acknowledgement3.GST RFD-03Deficiency Memo4.GST RFD-04Provisional Refund Order5.GST RFD-05Payment Advice6.GST RFD-06Refund Sanction/ Rejection Order7.GST RFD-06Interest on delayed refund order (same as refund order)8.GST RFD-07Order for complete adjustment of sanctioned Refund/ order for withholding of refund9.GST RFD-08Notice for rejection of application for refund10.GST RFD-09Reply to show cause notice11.GST RFD-10Application for Refund by any specialize agency of UN or Multilateral Financial Institution and Organization, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries, etc.Disclaimer : The above content was Reproduced from a Professional website , except with minor changes

Unlike most answers, I do think we have some “good gun laws”. The problem is twofold; those laws don’t (can’t) go far enough in scope, and they’re not enforced until after much more heinous crimes have occurred as a result. And not even then; the Parkland shooter violated the Gun Free School Zones Act, but he’s not being charged with that offense, because the 17 counts of premeditated murder he racked up in the next few minutes afterward are being treated quite rightly with much higher priority by prosecutors. You’re typically only charged with these kinds of malum prohibitum crimes when the investigators and prosecutors can’t find anything else to charge you with, which literally makes the law a way to turn people with no intention of committing a violent crime into felons anyway.On the other hand, the great majority of the laws we have, Federal and State, are either so anachronistic they no longer make sense, or are feel-good measures that never made any sense to begin with. Case in point, the aforementioned GFSZA; who in their right mind ever thought that a sign would have deterred the Stockton shooter? Or the Columbine shooters? Sandy Hook? Parkland? Santa Fe? They all walked right past one of these:And nothing happened until they started shooting.So, this list is gonna piss everybody off at some point or another, in that it will, in one single argument, call for more and less gun laws than our current status quo. You have been warned:Universalize and streamline background checks using updated technology. When NICS was conceptualized in the early 90s, the Internet as a public resource was still very young, and most people and businesses didn’t have access to it. 20-ish years later in 2015, 77% of Americans live in a home with broadband, 75% have a smartphone or other Internet enabled mobile device, and Internet access is a practical must-have for any retail businesses to run credit/debit cards, so even if you happen to not have Internet access, your local gun store will.As such, there’s really very little reason for NICS to still be a call center, at least not one of its current size. We can do the same job with a secure web application handling the overwhelming majority of the traffic. That would additionally allow that app to be accessible to people besides FFLs, and would be the most convenient option available for universalizing background checks.That also creates other possibilities, such as streamlining the 4473. This is actually a virtual necessity if you’re going to universalize background checks without requiring an FFL to run the check; the information on a 4473 is identity theft on a silver platter, and you’re going to be expecting the average Joe to not only not misuse that data, but to safeguard it for however long you want the provenance chain to be traceable. The REAL ID Act gives us some possibilities for uniquely verifying identity without traditional identifying information; name, address and “document discriminator” aka audit number off of an RIA-compliant ID would be enough to get any other information needed as of time of sale, and when actually running the background check, all you’d actually need to input is the DD code and state of issue and the app could retrieve anything else needed.The questionnaire is little more than a trap, and we can get rid of it; the idea is that if you are a prohibited person and filled the questionnaire out such that the FFL actually bothered to call it in, and NICS denied you, you have just made a materially false statement on a Federal government form. However, the Brady Act itself makes trying to buy a firearm while knowingly prohibited a crime in itself, so either way the Feds have to prove the offence was committed knowledgeably. All we really need to give background checks “teeth” is a very obvious “click-wrap” disclosure in the app that states unambiguously that if you fall into one of the listed prohibited categories and submit the form, you are committing a crime. We can capture a signature image if you really want, but no handwriting analyst will ever swear on oath that your signature drawn on a tablet with a stylus would match a signature sample written on paper.Once the check comes back clean, you have to give the seller the ability to prove beyond any doubt that he ran the check. Since centralization of records of gun sales is an extremely touchy issue, not to mention illegal under the 1986 FOPA, the proof has to be self-contained in the paper record of sale. You can do that by encoding a “digital signature” on the paper document, such as in a QR code (it’d be a large one, but the spec allows for up to 4K of data to be encoded in one QR which would be enough). NICS basically receives all the information on the form, makes sure the background check on the listed individual passed, then strings it together in a known order, hashes it with a secure hash function, then encrypts that hash using an “asymmetric key” algorithm like RSA or ECC. You don’t have to know the technical details, just that this “hash and encrypt” signature system is the backbone of secure communications on the Internet that most major websites now use for all their traffic, and it’s worked for a couple decades now, failing only when the human side of information security does.So, to prove you ran the background check, you produce a copy of the record of sale, the QR code can be scanned into a mobile version of the NICS app along with the plain text data of the form, and the plain text data is hashed the same way as the signature originally was. Then, the app decrypts the signature with the public key of the keypair that initially encrypted it, and if the hashes match, whoever’s asking knows the record is authentic, and the guy on the form is the next guy they need to talk to about why that gun ended up at a crime scene. They know it’s authentic because only the information on that form, encrypted using a key known only within the NICS system as of the date of sale (they have a lifespan; NICS could generate a new keypair every couple years, and the app would know all public keys and the date range each one was valid for), could have produced the digital signature in the QR code, which means NICS vetted the exact data on the printed form. If you don’t have a record of sale or other proof of dispossession (i.e. police record of theft, loss or destruction) and your gun shows up at a crime scene, you’re now a POI and guilty of a crime in itself (failure to maintain required records).A system like this would allow UBCs to be performed by anyone with a laptop or smartphone, and it would even allow buyers to avoid the three-day delay on an in-person private meetup by vetting themselves and obtaining a “pre-authorization”. And it would do so without requiring an FFL (though you could still use one and they’d become the custodian of the record of sale), and without centralizing these records in government hands (a de facto registry of gun owners).Increase the Federal minimum age to purchase semi-automatic long guns to 21, alongside the minimum for handguns. Psychologists are pretty clear that puberty, and the host of chemical, physical and mental changes that occur during it, really doesn’t wind down until the mid-20s for the average man; maybe a year or two earlier for women. Auto insurance companies know this; you can be totally accident free your entire driving career since the age of 16, and they don’t consider you “low-risk” until you’re 25. On that note, we as society grant the rights and privileges (and responsibilities) associated with adulthood to young adults gradually; most religions have an informal age of majority (such as the Age of Reason in Christianity, around 12 or 13), then from a more legal standpoint you can drive at 16, you’re criminally and civilly liable for your actions at 17 (though this varies by state), you can vote and own most guns at 18, and drink at 21. So, the “eighteen means eighteen” argument that when you’re legally an adult, you’re a full adult, just doesn’t fly. Any SDI in boot camp will tell you their 18-year-olds are just as immature as any other, the main difference is that along with their service rifle (and long before they touch one), they get a no-nonsense introduction to following orders as given without argument or discussion, designed to condition them to do exactly that when lives are on the line.So no, I do not think that an 18 year old, simply by virtue of managing to not piss off their parents or teachers long enough to attain said age, should be able to walk up to the firearms counter of a sporting goods store and buy absolutely anything under the glass or on the back wall. There’s legal adulthood and there’s physical adulthood, and the medical consensus is that those are currently separated by about 8 years. At least give them the three extra that we already do for alcohol and handguns, for them to realize that life actually does get better in many ways after high school, before we allow them to purchase a rifle that can end a life for each wiggle of their pointer finger with no other action required. At 18, you can buy and own break-action and repeating-action long guns; for semi-automatics and revolvers, it should be 21.Temporary firearm restraining orders. Oh yeah, we’re going here too. “Red Flag laws” have been the subject of serious debate in the U.S., with arguments against ranging from “the police can already do this if there’s a credible threat to someone’s safety” to “this is just an end run around the rights of the accused allowing vindictive individuals to use the government to indefinitely suspend a person’s RKBA without the burden of proof required for a criminal conviction“.Personally, I think it’s a good idea that needs very careful attention paid to its implementation. Whether or not society needs an actual law detailing a new process, we shouldn’t have to wait for a potential, specific threat to public safety to become an actual specific threat to public safety before action can be taken. At the same time, I recognize the very serious potential for evil, and it simply cannot be dismissed. Protective orders don’t require a unanimous jury verdict based on there being no reasonable doubt that one is needed. All the petitioner needs is to convince a judge it’s a good idea, and judges run the gamut on the topic, with most of the ones in New Jersey chomping at the bit to sign anything that comes across their desk that takes a gun away from a civilian.So, if we’re gonna use court orders to remove guns from a person who has not been convicted of any crime, we need to strike a very fine and specific balance between the law being too easily abused for government or personal gain, and the law being just as ineffective as waiting for a crime to be committed. There must be controls in place regarding who can “wave the red flag”, what criteria is valued in determining to grant the initial order, and a guaranteed maximum time for hearing the subject’s challenge to said order. In addition, a common criticism of the laws is that is that the restraining orders target the guns based on a need for mental health care, but don’t provide mental health care. If we’re really worried about someone’s mental state, that sounds like the obvious place to start. We can talk about these orders as an exception to being “involuntarily committed to a mental health institution”; if the care was the result of a temporary restraining order it doesn’t trigger the permanent Federal prohibition, provided the care has some measure of success (or doesn’t find a problem).I’ve also floated the idea of a “yellow flag”, an indication that someone is in need of a refresher on firearms safety due to demonstrated complacency or ignorance of basic safety rules, but is unwilling to get the training themselves. A court order to force the training based on a description of the unsafe behavior, in lieu of any possible criminal charges for said behavior, might have a significant effect on reducing negligent discharges and unintended access by children while protecting gun owners from rabid prosecution for first-time offenses. Similar safeguards would be needed to avoid this being used as a nuisance or a backdoor to indefinite loss of gun rights with no criminal conviction.Now, having agreed in a very big way to a few major recent demands of the myriad gun control groups, I must in all seriousness ask, what do gun owners get in return for being limited to single-shots and repeating-actions for three years, having to defend against repeated aspersions on our mental health from a vindictive ex-spouse or your in-laws, plus being required to Federally vet anyone they pass a gun to, and then maintain proof of that check for years or even indefinitely?While I think the conclusion of the “cake analogy” - “I want my whole damn cake back now” - is unhelpful and even counterproductive, the position is sound; gun owners have been agreeing to allow their right to keep and bear arms to be restricted in the name of public safety for over 80 years, and all that’s happened is that those who are against gun ownership in the first place come back wanting more restrictions.This is in fact the stated goal of gun control activists like Josh Sugarmann; to restrict, piece by piece, the RKBA in the U.S., like boiling a frog, until the 2A is effectively dead because those still willing to jump through the regulatory hoops are a superminority, and/or because the only weapons still available for civilian purchase have little practical use for self-defense (which is what 60% of gun owners give as a major reason they are gun owners, compared to just 36% for hunting). They get impatient from time to time and make big pushes, but after most of the major players favoring gun control “outed” themselves as to their end goal in the early 90s, resulting in the Republican Party’s first bicameral Congressional majority in 40 years, most have walked back their public positions. Can those new stated end goals for gun control be trusted? Only the GCAs really know for sure, but history is not on their side.So, if we’re going to call UBCs and an increased minimum age a “compromise”, it should fit the definition; both sides should leave the table angry with the agreement they reached. To that end, gun control advocates do not get it all their own way; policies proven to be counterproductive or ineffective since their passage need to be rolled back, along with additional measures that become possible once it’s that much more obvious that the guys who legally own guns are not the problem in our country:Repeal the Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, and all government-level policies restricting the possession of guns on any publicly-owned or managed land or building where entry is not contingent on passing through an armed security checkpoint where all entrants are searched for weapons. If the government and/or property owner is serious about people not having guns in a particular place, you know it before you get five feet inside. We have the technology and the process. The question is whether it’s worthwhile to implement these in any given place. If it’s not, hanging up a sign forcing those breaking no other law to disarm not only doesn’t solve the problem, it makes it worse.I will, in this discussion, give private property owners the benefit of the doubt; its your property, you’re a legal entity just like I am, it’s your prerogative to restrict entry as you wish based on any fact not explicitly protected under Federal law. I personally like to at least know someone else in my home besides me has a gun, and I won’t begrudge you the same. But had you caught me on any other day I’d be insisting on landowner liability for owners/controllers of “places of public accomodation” posted as “no guns allowed” for victims of violent crime in such venues. You are imposing a restriction on my entry into your otherwise publicly-accessible place, which places me and everyone else there at any give time at greater risk of harm, and you take no additional steps to mitigate that risk; that makes your policy a contributing factor to any criminal violence I might become a victim of while on your property.Repeal the Hughes Amendment, and allow purchase and registration of new automatic firearms in the United States. Yeah, you heard me right. The NFA, in itself, was sufficient to virtually end the violence committed with legally-owned automatic weapons; it gave the precursor organizations to the BATFE and FBI the legal tools they needed to dismantle the Mafia gangs of the 1920s, and since it passed, not one violent crime was committed with a legally-owned, NFA-registered machine gun. The only two crimes committed with any legally-owned machine gun involved police-issue machine pistols, and the crimes that actually prompted the Hughes Amendment, mainly in the Miami area among rival drug gangs, were committed with illegal weapons smuggled into the country alongside the drugs. The most notable shootout involving automatic weapons since the passage of the NFA, the North Hollywood Shootout, happened 10 years after the passage of the Hughes Amendment, and involved illegally-modified AKMs that would have landed the robbers in prison for 20 years each even without the Hughes Amendment in effect.Once again, the law is only a restriction on those inclined to follow it in the first place. The Hughes Amendment was passed in response to a spate of crimes in Miami, representing less than 3% of the total homicide count in Miami-Dade County, committed with weapons the ATF didn’t even know about in the first place. The ability of people to legally buy machine guns didn’t figure into it in the slightest. The Hughes Amendment also gave us the current political climate regarding guns and any registration thereof; in 1986, the Feds proved that they were willing to use registration as a first step to an outright ban. It had been done at lower levels before (DC’s handgun ban dated to 1976 and was legislated a similar way; you had to register all firearms to possess them in DC, and beginning in 1976 you couldn’t register handguns unless they were already there), but the Hughes Amendment brought the tactic to national attention, poisoning any attempt at actual compromise ever since. If gun control advocates want gun rights advocates to ever sit down at a negotiating table and assume good faith ever again, this strategy needs to be demonstrably off the table as a gun control tactic.Deregulate suppressors and short-barreled firearms. The NFA was passed 80 years ago, and was originally intended to restrict access to “concealable” firearms by union labor protesters, while not being an insurmountable hurdle to the labor bosses putting down the strikes, nor the police who are specifically exempted by the law and for whom the factory or mine was the primary taxpayer in the locale. In the works for most of the Roaring 20s, the NFA finally passed early in FDR’s term, due to a combination of the increasing publicity of mafia violence in the media involving fully-automatic weapons, and an attempted assassination of then-President-elect Roosevelt making gun control an early personal priority of FDR’s.That was 84 years ago. In more recent times, we wear less clothing in general, making these same types of weapons harder to conceal, meanwhile even illegal use of weapons and devices subject to NFA restrictions (registered or otherwise) is very low. Hunters and homeowners want to use suppressors to save their hearing and reduce the disturbance inherent in a rifle shot to those nearby, and for proof they’re not dangerous in themselves, one only has to look at the UK, where they’re sold off the shelf in any sporting goods store, and hunters are encouraged by police to use one. Homeowners also want access to short-barreled rifles as home defense weapons, easier to aim than a handgun while easier to maneuver through a home than a 16″ barreled rifle. For both SBRs and SBSes, workarounds to the law have been found and vetted by the ATF, and have become very popular, making the additional NFA restriction of short-barreled weapons useless in practice.National carry permit reciprocity, and a Federal pre-emption of “may-issue” permitting policies among State governments. Totally within the Feds’ purview under provisions of the Full Faith and Credit Clause (giving Congress the power to legislate the manner in which legal instruments of one state are to be recognized and honored by any other), Federally-enforced national reciprocity would force all 50 states, D.C. and all Federal territories to recognize a valid concealed-carry permit issued by any state - or the government-issued resident ID card of any state that does not require a permit - as if it were a valid concealed carry permit in their jurisdiction, subject to the laws of the state in which the person is currently located. So if it’s illegal to enter a bar in Texas with a concealed weapon (and it is, a felony in fact), it’s just as illegal to do so with a Tennessee permit as a Texas one. But, if it’s legal to walk around Central Park while strapped if you have an NYC carry permit, it’s just as legal to do it with a Texas permit, or a Tennessee permit, or a driver’s license from the State of Vermont.Now, national reciprocity, especially when it includes nonresident licenses, will accomplish an effective end to “may-issue” policies anyway, but I wanted to be explicit about this. The majority of the states in this country recognize a right to carry, typically subject to state regulation on the manner of the wearing of arms. As of 2018, the remaining few states that exercise subjective discretion in permitting, typically along the lines of requiring “good cause”, do so for the sole and express reason of limiting permits to a privileged few. It’s codified in Maryland’s version of the good cause requirement; applicants must have a reason to carry that “distinguishes the applicant from the general gun-owning public”; a desire to defend oneself is not distinguishing, as 60% of gun owners have their guns for that reason.This is unconstitutional, and to date the only credible reason SCOTUS has not heard a case on this topic is that the Court, and Roberts as Chief Justice, is unwilling to be seen as a tool to overturn state gun laws in a series of lock-step ideologically-polarized 5–4 decisions. They want the existing decisions in Heller and McDonald to be digested and mixed into lower court case law, and once that settles to a backwash of a few notable disagreements among Circuit Courts and State Supreme Courts, they’ll entertain the question. It’s well-known in legal circles that Gorsuch and Thomas are already chomping at the bit for another 2A case, but as of when Peruta was denied cert in 2016, the popular theory was that Alito and Roberts were unsure of Kennedy’s vote (on top of the whole “tool to overturn state laws 5–4” thing), and so took the out that with Moore v. Madigan not having been appealed by Illinois, there was no active Circuit Court split pending SCOTUS review.That’s compromise. I give you, you give me. Gun owners began the 20th Century with zero Federal restrictions on gun purchase or ownership, and many fewer State restrictions than most of the more problematic states for gun owners currently impose. The original position of this debate is that Americans have free and easy access to whatever firearms were available, and therefore “keeping some of my gun rights for now” is not a “compromise position”. That’s like me telling you “give me all the money you have now and all your future earnings”, you refusing, and then me saying “let’s compromise; you give me half of your money and 75% of your future earnings”.Would you agree to that “deal”? Yeah, didn’t think so.

There is no such thing as a typical day, even in the life of an individual professor, because each week includes a mixture of daily tasks, weekly tasks, and less frequent/ periodic tasks (such as university events and grant deadlines).It’s easier to talk about the organization of a week than a day.My weekly appointment schedule has many time periods filled in with regularly recurring activities: Classes that I teach, office hours, regular weekly meetings with graduate and honors students about their research projects, department and/or university meetings, and regular or semi-regular meetings with colleagues about collaborative research projects. This past year I also had a two hour block on Mondays for faculty senate meetings.Some of my colleagues who do animal research spend blocks of time in their labs either training or testing animals or working with tissue samples or other specimens or teaching their students to do these. I primarily do survey research. Review of past research, survey question development, data analysis, and report writing occur both independently whenever these can be squeezed in between regularly scheduled work (during open time blocks in the week and sometimes also evenings and weekends), and in the meetings I have mentioned.Other activities fill in the remaining time. I need time to update Power Point and handouts and other materials for my courses; post course materials on line; write exam questions; and grade exams and papers. I need time to read books and journal articles that report past research so that my research stays current and my teaching stays up to date. Occasionally I meet with a student who has a special concern or needs help in my class, or a colleague who wants advice about her/his data analysis.Sometimes special events come up, for example, when the President of the university addresses the community.Research talks and colloquia occur irregularly, typically not more than once a week. Attendance is expected. There are receptions after these talks.When we hire a new faculty member, members of the search committee have to examine up to a hundred applications to select the best applicants. We arrange a day and a half interview for each candidate (hotel, transportation around campus, meetings with faculty and administrators and students, dinner out, and so forth).When students write grants for summer fellowships, faculty committees review these grants to decide who is funded.When faculty come up for promotion or tenure review, one level of review is by a faculty committee; this committee is responsible for reading and evaluating substantial documentation about teaching, service, and research of the promotion candidate. Membership in one or more such university committees is an expected part of our jobs (as “service”).Many other activities fall under the heading of ‘service’. For example, at one time I worked on a project to create materials to inform high school aged young women about careers in science for women; this included video recorded interviews with women in science. Service can involve lectures to community groups, response to media queries, participation in community organizations such as school boards, and many other things. Some faculty put many, many hours into these activities.When the department has an external review, we need to prepare detailed reports about the department’s teaching, service and research activities.We individual faculty have to prepare year end activity reports, more detailed reports at 3 year and 5 year intervals, and a complete summary of accomplishments when we come up for promotion or tenure review. Back when this was paper/hard copy, my box of materials weighed at least 20 pounds (we were required to submit every individual student course evaluation back in those days as part of the record and so we had to keep track of a lot of paperwork).I administer a computer run subject pool through which psychology students sign up to participate in studies. Every day I deal with questions from students, instructors, and researchers. How do I do?…. why can’t I sign in to my account?…. why are my credits not showing up?…. when is the deadline for?… and so forth. Often the person who asks the questions is upset and feels it is quite urgent.Proposed research by students and faculty has to be reviewed to make sure that it satisfies standards for the ethical conduct of research. Sometimes we need to give feedback so the applicant can correct problems and resubmit the proposal.At the end of each academic year we have a large scale undergraduate research conference where honors students present the results of the projects they have worked on under close supervision for the last 7 to 12 months. (I worked with four honors students last year). Throughout the year we spend time with them discussing the ethics of proposed research, specifics of research design, data collection, data analysis, oral presentation of results, and a written thesis. They always make us so proud.I have not had federal grants recently. When the deadline for submitting a grant for research funding approaches, a faculty member puts as many other things as possible on hold and works nights and weekends to finish the grant application. In addition, many faculty serve on the review boards at funding agencies such as NSF and NIH to evaluate research proposals that have been submitted nationwide and give feedback to the director that affects funding decisions.We go to professional conferences to present posters about work in progress and more extensive talks about research results. Again, just before the conference, the focus is on last minute preparation, designing the poster and making sure it is ready to be printed, and so forth.One of the greatest expectations is that we publish research results (in my field, this means journal articles; in some fields, books). I re-wrote my first journal article TEN times (no joke) before submitting it. My mentor was a stickler for detail and he was right. Journals often have rejection rates > 70% and so papers usually have to be revised multiple times after submission, and may have to be submitted to a series of four or more journals to be accepted. A typical journal review might consist of four or more single spaced pages of criticism from 3 or more reviewers (with difference concerns) and it can take a great deal of time to make revisions to satisfy them (or to explain why the changes they ask for are impossible or unreasonable).Generally there are no deadlines to submit/ revise/ resubmit journal articles and so we have to self-disciplined about setting our own goals and deadlines. It is easy to get caught up in the everyday demands (such as being ready for class); but we also have to make time to work on longer term projects in research and to keep making progress even when the end point is months in the future.I wrote a textbook in statistics. The first edition took me eight years to write (not just squeezing in hours during workdays, but also nights, weekends, summers, and holidays).Most professors work long weeks (less than 50 hours is uncommon). As it becomes more and more competitive to get and hold on to a tenure track university job, the work load and intensity of effort required for junior faculty are increasing.Years ago the Manchester Union Leader (a conservative newspaper that is notoriously critical of academia) sent a reporter to shadow one of our faculty members. I think the reporter was supposed to write an expose to “reveal” that we teach 6 hours a week and then sit on our butts the rest of the time. The faculty member he followed around actually wore him out with whirlwind of activities. The reporter wrote a very favorable article about how busy and hardworking faculty are (which the Union Leader did not publish).I’m sure there are many other activities other professors spend a lot of time on that I have not included here, but this gives you some idea of the mix.Each week, each semester, and each year involves a different selection of these activities. On a day to day basis, I do the regularly scheduled things I have listed (such as classes and department meetings) and then allocate time to all other activities on an as-needed (or as-urgent) basis.