New York At It Again
As if door-to-door surprise firearm inspections isn't enough, Albany County New York wants to register ammunition.
That is such a fine use of taxpayer dollars. What is it with that state? Did Karl Marx take a dump in their water supply or something?
What's the problem with registration? Wouldn't it be very useful in separating the good guys from the bad guys? Wouldn't it make it easier to trace weapons used in crimes to see where the "leak" occurred?
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Registration is only enforceable on law abiding citizens. It does absolutely nothing to curb criminal activity.
For instance, the whole point of having a registration law would be that all firearms are registered and that those failing to register their firearms are guilty of a crime an d punished by law if caught. However, only an otherwise law abiding citizen could ever be charged with failure to register a firearm. The supreme court has already ruled that charging a criminal with failure to register his illegally possessed firearm would violate his 5th amendment rights against self incrimination.
Registration does not provide help in identifying a "leak". If a gun is stolen, used in a crime, recovered and traced, you have only proven that a firearm was stolen and illegally used. Does it make any difference if the trace led back to a dealer or the original purchaser? Nope. It is still a gun obtained illegally and used illegally. If the trace leads repeatedly to a dealer, the dealer's records would detail the original purchaser, giving law enforcement an avenue to investigate.
History has also shown that registration does not curb criminal use, can only be levied on the law-abiding, and is always used when confiscations occur. In the case of New York, we see that it also allows for intrusion by police for no legitimate reason other than to harass a law-abiding citizen. Wouldn't the police's time be better spent investigating an actual crime?
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