Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Gun Registration Lie

While flipping through radio channels in the car the other day, I came across a recorded interview of John Fogerty talking about his 1970 hit song "Run Through the Jungle." The artist was explaining the common misconception that the song was a protest against the Vietnam war.
I think a lot of people thought that because of the times, but I was talking about America and the proliferation of guns, registered and otherwise. I'm a hunter and I'm not antigun, but I just thought that people were so gun-happy -- and there were so many guns uncontrolled that it really was dangerous, and it's even worse now.
This quote is from the 1993 interview Fogerty did with the Los Angeles Times. Despite the quote being 18 years old, I was struck how the same meme is repeated still today, by the clueless and the dishonest.

What would be the purpose of gun registration? It has but one purpose, and that is the government-sponsored confiscation of guns from law-abiding citizens. Criminals won't register their guns, so those weapons won't be trackable. Tracking a gun after a crime is committed doesn't help the victim in any event.

In 1968 the anti-gun politicians in the Great Britain instituted gun registration. The lie told to sportsman, and hunters like Fogerty, was that the data would never be used to confiscate sporting guns. However in 1988 the government knew exactly where to go when they decided to confiscate all rifles. And then in 1997 they confiscated all hand guns. In both instances only law abiding and honest citizens were affected. Did Great Britain become a safer place? No. In fact, crime increased as citizens were disarmed and criminals continued their ways. Today we see the results of these misguided policies. Private citizens stand by helplessly while rioting thugs loot and destroy private property. The criminals still have their weapons, but a defenseless British population rolls over. There's no reason to think the same thing won't happen here. The Brits have no monopoly on dishonest politicians, or gullible citizens.

Today we see the same push for registration in the U.S. under the guise of "common-sense gun control." Only a dishonest politician uses this ploy. Only an uninformed citizen believes it.

It was not that long ago that President Obama spewed forth with his own plans for gun control: "We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar."

10 comments:

  1. Interesting info on Fogerty and the song. I thought it was a protest song too. And of course how many times have we heard an introduction to a gun control argument start with "I believe in the Second Amendment, but..."

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  2. The same could be said for CCW permits. Once you have one, the .gov knows you're a gun owner. They just don't know what specific guns you have.

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  3. Your post intentionally fails to mention that a significant portion of gun related crimes are brought to justice because of gun tracking.

    Not all murders are premeditated.

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  4. "Your post intentionally fails to mention that a significant portion of gun related crimes are brought to justice because of gun tracking."

    Come again? First, what do you mean by gun tracking? And second, please give us a citation.

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  5. It's interesting that our anonymous friend accuses me of "intentionally" failing to mention something. Apparently he's a mind reader. There are no stats I've seen to prove his contention. In fact, studies from Canada show that gun registration helped solved NO crimes.

    Oh, there ARE guns that the 0bama administration illegally sold to mexican criminals that were traced back to the murder of an American border patrol agent. That must be what he's referring to. But no one was brought to justice because this administration is stonewalling.

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  6. First, by gun tracking I mean a system that relates a gun to its owner. More specifically the ATF's firearms tracking system http://www.atf.gov/publications/factsheets/factsheet-etrace.html

    Second, I shouldn't need a citation to say that some violent crimes are committed using registered traceable weapons. The statement that "Criminals won't register their guns, so those weapons won't be trackable" is broad, sweeping and untrue. Some criminals commit crimes with registered and traceable guns.

    I'm not trying to start anything. I simply wanted to point out that the gun registration program has more than the single purpose the author suggests (confiscation), it also serves to bring people who commit crimes with guns to justice.

    The author it correct, tracking a gun after a crime is committed doesn't help the victim. It helps prevent future victims.

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  7. 4, your premise changed from "a significant portion of gun related crimes are brought to justice because of gun tracking" to "some violent crimes are committed using registered traceable weapons." Those are two entirely different statements.

    I find nothing to support your original statement. All the evidence is to the contrary. I stand by my statement, borne out by history, that the ultimate purpose of registration is confiscation.

    In any event, I am glad the post evoked discussion.

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  8. Ummm... you said "Your post intentionally fails to mention that a significant portion of gun related crimes are brought to justice because of gun tracking."

    That's different than noting that a gun registry has an intended purpose in law enforcement. What study shows that the ATF gun tracing program (which anti-rights people do not consider a gun registry) has brought "a significant portion of gun related crimes" to justice?

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  9. Tin, you are exactly right. That's why having to ask permission to exercise a right is an abomination.

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  10. Interesting article here:

    http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/european-economic-crisis-highlights-an-increasingly-important-reason-to-oppose-gun-control/

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