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posted to rec.boats
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Aug 2014
Posts: 580
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The gun thread
On 11/4/2014 8:34 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/4/2014 7:14 AM, BAR wrote:
In article ,
says...
On 11/3/2014 8:38 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 03 Nov 2014 19:57:01 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:
The registration document required on dealer purchases can trace the
serial number of the firearm from the manufacturer to the dealer and
then to the original purchaser. That record of custody becomes broken
when you do a private transfer.
===
Exactly what problem or crime do you expect to solve with this
unbroken chain of custody? I don't hear law enforcement agencies
clamoring that they really need this. In mot crimes that I hear
about, the original owner of the gun does not seem to be an important
question.
In itself registration won't prevent crimes Wayne but it may start to
reduce the number of guns readily available to those who commit them.
Right now it is estimated that between 20 and 40 percent of the guns in
the USA are not registered anywhere.
How many guns should there be in the USA that are allowed to be in the
people's hands?
It's a process. It won't return any rewards overnight.
You can stop the same number of car related deaths each year by
outlawing cars.
I agree that from what I've read most in law enforcement do not support
many of the contemplated new gun-control proposals but they are more
related to things like gun types, magazine sizes, etc. There isn't much
on the concept of background checks and registration, mainly I think
because those laws already exist for guns purchased through a dealer.
Again, the laws exist and are ineffective and you want to require all
states to implement ineffective laws.
Can't help myself. My responses to your questions and comments:
Bar: "How many guns should there be in the USA that are allowed to be
in the people's hands?"
Me: "As many as they want. I am not against owning guns"
Bar: "You can stop the same number of car related deaths each year by
outlawing cars."
Me: "False equivalency. Cars are not a cause of violent
crimes committed by criminals" Maybe "get-a-way cars" :-)
Bar: "Again, the laws exist and are ineffective and you want to
require all states to implement ineffective laws.
Me: "The laws that require a background check and registration
for guns purchased from a licensed dealer already exists
in *all* the states. It's a federal law.
At issue are the guns acquired by other means that are not
registered and traceable to the current owner or possessor of
the gun.
Here are the stats on guns *used in crimes*:
39.6% are obtained from a friend or family member.
39.2% are obtained "on the street" or from an illegal source.
0.7% are purchased at a gun show.
1% are purchased a flea market.
3.8% are from a pawn shop.
8.3% are bought at FFL licenced retail outlets
So, you can see that the overwhelming majority of guns that end up being
used in a crime come from sources that *do not* require that a chain of
custody is maintained.
That's why the registration of guns is ineffective as it stands today.
If transfers required re-registration to subsequent owners, the number
of guns available "on the street" would diminish over time and those
used in a crime would be more traceable.
We can never completely eliminate gun crimes but when there are 74 or
more shootings in schools in 18 months, don't you think it's worth trying?
That's my argument.
I thought you were done with this thread. ;-)
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