05-03-2021, 02:12 AM
(05-02-2021, 01:25 PM)Dill Wrote: Well I only checked into the tail end of this discussion, so perhaps I missed something.
Maybe, let's find out.
Quote: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).
If you find a gun on someone's person the question of "ownership" has already been resolved.
Quote: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.
Again, a gross oversimplification. There are so many variables inherent in finding a gun at the scene of a search.
Quote: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.
Guns are registered to someone, the legal purchaser. To purchase a new firearm a NICS check must be conducted. Of course older guns don't fall into this category. But older guns make up a small fraction of firearms in these scenarios and those that do occur are largely stolen and have been reported as such, making their provenance known.
Quote: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.
Yes, because they are. The rest of this statement is a gross oversimplification as this is clearly not the case.
Quote:And if there is no registration, who can prove a gun found in car or residence is stolen?
Because it's been reported as stolen? Small hint, legal gun owners whose property has been stolen tend to report it.
Quote: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%.
The straw purchaser usually has little to do with the buyer on a day to day basis. Your attempt to put this occurrence at 50/50 is grossly inaccurate. More like 99/1.
Quote: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.
You're not really making a point here. No one is in favor of straw purchasers.
