Gun Control proponents always like to draw parallels between firearms and automobiles. “We register cars, so why not register guns?” is a Handgun Control, Inc. website staple. But a recent experience helped me affirm why I am opposed to firearms registration and why I am starting to question auto registration.

On a beautiful Thursday afternoon I was leaving work and heading for home. After making a particularly hairy left turn on a particularly busy street, I see the bane of all motorists; flashing lights in the rearview mirror. Thinking I was pulled over for breaking some not-too-well-known law about making left turns, I braced myself to pay a fifty-dollar ticket. I was wrong. The law-enforcement officer informed me that my truck’s registration had expired. I immediately realized what happened. Due to a poorly designed state registration renewal form and a recent change in the law that allowed motorists to inspect their vehicles every other year, I mistakenly believed that registration also occurred every other year. 

About that ticket: Boy, was I in for a surprise. The not-too-experienced police officer called for backup. He informed me that upon conducting a random plate check, he discovered that my registration had expired, and he was going to impound my car. While the rookie and his overly friendly backup officer conferred, I got to sit in the back of a police car. What fun. 

Now to gun control. Handgun Control et al likes to trumpet how firearms registration will dramatically reduce crime. “This is a ‘sensible gun-law’”, they say. But their parallel has some serious flaws that threaten the civil liberties of ordinary citizens. Their most important error is the comparison between the penalties for motor vehicle and firearms violations. Even though auto accidents kill far more Americans than weapons of any kind, virtually no American deplores the widespread use and ownership of automobiles. But unlike ubiquitous SUV-driving yuppies -- considering that most law-abiding citizens don’t openly carry their weapons -- gun owners are harder to spot.  Consequently, some non-gun owners are afraid of armed citizens. With regards to gun registration, some facts must be considered:

• How does vehicle registration prevent cars from being stolen?  • How does vehicle registration prevent people from driving like jerks or in a dangerous or reckless manner?  • How does vehicle registration prevent death or injury of innocent bystanders in auto collisions?  • How does registration prevent crimes being committed with automobiles?

Fact One: Guns are weapons. The right to keep and bear weapons does carry significant responsibilities. That’s why violations of firearms laws are relatively strict. Discharging a weapon in an irresponsible manner or using one in the commission a crime is usually a felony and rightfully so. However, in their zeal to reduce crime, liberal politicians are fond of making almost all gun law violations felony offenses, especially in states like New Jersey and California. Owning high capacity magazines or ugly rifles (“assault weapons”) also carries felonious weight.

Fact Two: States like to make money from registration schemes. Why else would people have to register their cars and pay a fee EVERY YEAR (in some states)? Why else would relatively stiff financial penalties be assessed for registration failures? If guns get registered, will money hungry state governments let people get away with registering their guns only once? Or will law-abiding citizens have to register and re-register and re-re-register, ad nauseam?

Fact Three: Now being human, people will make mistakes. The requiring of paperwork filing on the part of the state against its citizens on a regular basis increases the chance of mistakes being made on the part of the citizens or the state. While automobile registration violations will get you a traffic ticket or perhaps your car impounded, if a gun owner violates one of the proposed firearms registration laws, there is a good chance that that gun owner will be going to jail for a long time. Gun registration violations will create an entire class of “felons” guilty merely of screwing up paperwork. Even if the “criminal” does not go to jail, the State will probably confiscate their firearms for “safety reasons”. States will also want to make sure that gun owners are abiding by the registration laws. Now that the government knows where they live, what could be better than having the police inspect citizens’ homes to make sure the paperwork is up-to-date? Random checks could be made.

Registration won’t prevent or reduce crime. How does vehicle registration prevent cars from being stolen? How does vehicle registration prevent people from driving like jerks or in a dangerous or reckless manner? How does vehicle registration prevent death or injury of innocent bystanders in auto collisions? How does registration prevent crimes being committed with automobiles? 

Gun registration will serve as another check on the freedom of law-abiding citizens. It will be another tax burden on hard working poor and middle-class American families. It will mean more paperwork to fill out. It will create a class of “felons” guilty of only screwing up government paperwork. It will not stop crimes from occurring. It will not prevent gun owners from handling their weapons in a reckless or unsafe manner. 

Oh, about that ride: (In case anyone cares, there is no legroom back there!) I was out a few hundred dollars for my trouble, had the registration fixed then next day, and was back in the driver’s seat. Safe driving everyone!
On the Highways and Byways of the Wonderful Sate of New Jersey – John J. Marciano.

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