When the assault weapons ban is renewed, how should current assault weapon owners be handled?

[apples and oranges]

Should they be made to turn in their weapons right away, and get an automatic felony if caught with them? Or should they be allowed to keep them until they die and then their family members turn it in? Is there a way to trace the locations of all the weapons sold since 2004?

I really like Japan's approach to guns:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/

Handguns are forbidden absolutely. Small-caliber rifles have been illegal to buy, sell, or transfer since 1971. Anyone who owned a rifle before then is allowed to keep it, but their heirs are required to turn it over to the police once the owner dies.

The only guns that Japanese citizens can legally buy and use are shotguns and air rifles, and it's not easy to do. The process is detailed in David Kopel's landmark study on Japanese gun control, published in the 1993 Asia Pacific Law Review, still cited as current.

To get a gun in Japan, first, you have to attend an all-day class and pass a written test, which are held only once per month. You also must take and pass a shooting range class. Then, head over to a hospital for a mental test and drug test (Japan is unusual in that potential gun owners must affirmatively prove their mental fitness), which you'll file with the police. Finally, pass a rigorous background check for any criminal record or association with criminal or extremist groups, and you will be the proud new owner of your shotgun or air rifle. Just don't forget to provide police with documentation on the specific location of the gun in your home, as well as the ammo, both of which must be locked and stored separately. And remember to have the police inspect the gun once per year and to re-take the class and exam every three years.

[jmg257]

1. You want how they WILL be, or how they SHOULD be (if you want to make a difference)?

WILL be - nothing will happen to exisiting owners.

SHOULD be...confiscate the banned firearms and associated accoutrements with a 6mo grace period, after that possession=mandatory jail time, usage even harsher penalties.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. With considerable care,

especially if they seem a bit unbalanced.

[2ndAmForComputers]

3. And that's why Japan is a dictatorship with a crime rate much higher than us.

Oh wait...

[derby378]

5. They're just as messed up as Americans, only along different lines

At least we don't have entire shops dedicated to selling underwear that was worn by coeds.

[derby378]

4. "When?"

Change that into an "If." Our national consciousness has shifted considerably during the Bush-Cheney era. More on that later.

[Arctic Dave]

6. Buyback for the amount of the weapon plus 25% for a year.

After that year if you are to have one in possession you go to jail for five years.

[hack89]

7. Senator Feinstein has already said it will not be retroactive

Everyone gets to keep their present weapons. They just can't buy new ones.

The first AWB did the same thing - ownership was not banned. Just the manufacturing and selling of new guns.