Gun registration, why it is meaningless, expensive, useless and unnecessary...

[2aguy]

But other than being useless in solving crimes, expensive in terms of the money and police resources it would waste, and unnecessary because there are other ways that actually solve murder without wasting vast police resources....it is still a stupid idea....below is one of the best organized collection of thoughts on why registering guns is meaningless, excessively expensive, a waste of limited police resources, and unnecessary and useless at solving crimes....



The only question about gun registration

Only one thing is overlooked in the common-sense proposals to register guns, so here it is. How exactly would writing down my name, or your name, help arrest criminals or make you safer? Although at first blush, gun listing has a sort of tantalizing appeal, on reflection you have to wonder whether gun lists would be an instrument of crime control at all.

The unfortunate answer is that, no matter how good it feels when the words first pass your ears, registering honest gun owners doesn't stop criminals, and in fact focuses in exactly the opposite direction. It is an allocation of resources that has no chance of achieving its goal, if that goal is the reduction of crime.

1. Registering 70 million American households is extremely expensive.

Do you know what it takes to run a database that big? You need 19,000 changes daily, just to keep up with people who move every ten years. Floor after floor of cubicle after cubicle for employees with permanent jobs, payroll, parking and dry cleaning bills. It's a government jobs program all by itself, all in the common sense -- but deceptive name -- of stopping crime. How many criminals do you figure will register when all is said and done? That's right, none, and the planners know that. All that money and time, invested on tracking the innocent. That's why so many police departments are against it -- they'll be forced to run huge data centers with their limited resources, and hire clerks instead of cops.

2. Americans who fail to register would become felons without committing a crime.

Under registration, activity that is a common practice and has been perfectly legal since inception makes you a felon. Think about that. Possession of private property would subject you to felony arrest, if the property isn't on the government's master list. Boy, that doesn't sound like the American way. No other evil is needed, there is no victim and no inherent criminal act takes place. Paperwork equals prison. That's just wrong.

3. Registration, if enacted, will create an underground market for unregistered guns bigger than the drug trade.

How many times must an elite forbid what the public wants, before learning the unintended consequences of outlawing liberties? People get what they want either way, it's just a question of how much crime the government itself forces to accompany it. With respect to guns, the last thing you want to encourage is the creative import programs and price supports that drug dealers enjoy, for gun runners.

 

[2aguy]

and here is another fine point from the link.....

"A general registration scheme would run into a greater problem. A prohibited possessor cannot have a firearm at all, so mere possession is a serious crime. An additional charge for failing to register the gun that can't be possessed would offend the 5th Amendment the same as in the Haynes case. However, possession of an unregistered gun by an ordinary citizen would turn that citizen into a felon, with no other illegal act but the paperwork failure. The innocent would have to register to remain legal, the illegal possessor could not register without violating the right to not incriminate yourself."

 

[ricechickie]

I don't know why you think that having an unregistered gun would make someone a felon.

 

[2aguy]

this is what gun registration looks like in Connecticut....

Connecticut in Turmoil as Gun Owners Demand Return of Rights

The state has warned the estimated 325,000 to 350,000 residents who need to register their weapons that the penalty for noncompliance is arrest.

The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection earlier this month sent a letter to gun owners who had failed to register the items by a Jan. 1 deadline, saying they faced charges of possessing an unregistered weapon or illegal magazines.

The letter further heightened concern among gun owners that the state was ready to seize the illegal items, but Dora Schriro, new head of the state police, told NBC Connecticut that there are no plans for door-to-door gun confiscation.

This is infringement if anything is....that is why the Supreme Court becomes so important....as well as Republicans winning last Tuesday....