Teen girl in Columbus killed by police

[Dill]

(04-30-2021, 05:57 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Fred ignores a very substantial point here.  Most firearms in the possession of criminals are stolen.  While there are certainly instances of straw purchasers, the vast majority of firearms found during things like home or vehicles searches are stolen.  A stolen firearm is confiscated regardless of who claims possession.  In the event of a straw purchaser, if the person who purchased the firearm is present, or had reasonable access to the vehicle/residence then the firearm wouldn't be confiscated even if there was a complete registry.

Well I only checked into the tail end of this discussion, so perhaps I missed something.  

As I understood it, Fred said that gun registration would help prevent felons found with guns from keeping them. Stated that way, it sounds like a cop might frisk a felon, find a gun, and do nothing about it, which provoked Bels to say that possibility was "zero" (also my response).

Fred then clarified by specifying contexts in which a gun could be found in the home or car of a felon, but with others present who could claim they own it. I don't doubt that Fred knows of such instances. If unregistered guns are legal, then there is nothing a cop can do about that. 

But if guns must be registered to SOMEONE at least, and an unregistered gun can be treated as contraband, then that ploy won't work anymore. The cop will confiscate the gun, and perhaps arrest someone. Ergo, registration would, as Fred maintains, help law enforcement get guns off the street. 

Your counter is that most guns in criminal possession are stolen. This doesn't seem a solid objection to Fred's point, as without registration criminals could simply buy them as easily as a pack of cigarettes. And if there is no registration, who can prove a gun found in car or residence is stolen?  Sure, if a straw purchaser of a registered gun is present, nothing might be done in that case. But even if that happens 50% of the time registration would still be effective for confiscation in the other 50%.  If there were a debate in a state legislature over whether to register guns and this issue of straw purchase were raised, I doubt it would be treated as a substantial objection.