Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: A Federal Firearms Operator's License [View all]Bazinga
(331 posts)and less concern for the words that *aren't* there could help out our little discussion. IE, the word "future" in reference to the confiscation that I am concerned about, and the the word "currently" in reference to the confiscation that is a non-issue. In other words, if a registration were enacted now I have no doubt that it would not be used to confiscate legally owned weapons. However, there is currently no proposed safeguards which prevent future abuse of that registry.
I understand that you don't want to address this element of the discussion, but please note that my repeating it is not a function of my adoration for Wayne LaPierre and his rhetorical genius ( ), but rather due to concern that it has not been sufficiently addressed. It is apparent that the "NRA talking points" pseudo-rebuttal has become so ubiquitous that it is actually believed to be sufficient. If that is the case, I will seek elsewhere to resolve the particular concern of future abuse of registries, I do believe, however, that I have adequately answered the question "Why the 'irrational' fear of registries?"
As for the goal of registries, if it is simply a matter of establishing ownership, then I'm not sure what good it will do. The purpose of a car title or the deed of a home is to establish ownership for financial reasons. No one can claim that my house or my car is theirs because I have a title that says it's mine. This is especially pertinent to homes and cars that are financed at a high percentage of their worth and the question of ownership is more nuanced, ie the lender can claim that the car actually belongs to him and repossess it if payments aren't made. I don't think the financing of firearms is nearly on par with cars, and the analogy fails. Furthermore, car registry (which is completely separate from a title indicating legal ownership) is for the purpose of levying taxes based on the use of public resources. That purpose seems entirely unsuitable as an analogy for gun registry, as the legal use of firearms requires no public resources.
If on the other hand, the goal is to establish a list of who owns firearms so that they may be found and punished should they commit a crime with one, then we have a different debate. Namely, the extent to which we should monitor the exercise of a right as a means to attenuate its possible misuse.