Registration, THEN confiscation...

Many gun bigots argue for registration schemes under two delusions:

That firearm registration helps solve crimes
That firearms will never be confiscated in the United States

The problem is, both claims are false. Maryland and New York have each run multi-year programs that required all new, legally-sold guns in the state to be registered along with ballistic "fingerprints". Neither registration system helped law enforcement. Maryland's system may be dismantled this year at the request of the police, because it wasted money that could have been spent actually solving crimes. Illinois has its own registration scheme, the FOID (Firearm Owner's IDentification) card.

I mention this today because Illinois has just proved that it can happen here. Specifically, according to the Illinois State Rifle Association:

If passed, HB 2414 would ban the possession of a wide variety of semiautomatic sporting firearms owned by hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Illinois citizens. Under HB 2414, gun owners would have 90 days to surrender their firearms to the police, or face felony prosecution and stiff jail sentences. Any such firearms they surrender would be forfeited without compensation.

Or, as Diane Feinstein once put it, "Mr. and Mrs. Illinois, turn them all in."

This bill is unconstitutional on 2nd, 4th, and 5th amendment grounds at least. It must not pass.

Posted on 2005-04-13 19:35:11.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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Perils of Gun Registration in Illinois

by FreedomSight

I you're one of those people who think that gun registration will never lead to gun confiscation, at least not here in the good old U.S. of A., then think again. TriggerFinger reports on a proposed Illinois law, quoting the Illinois State Rifle Association: If passed, HB 2414 would ban the possession of a wide variety of semiautomatic sporting firearms owned by hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Illinois citizens. Under HB 2414, gun owners would have 90 days to surrender their firearms to the police, or face felony prosecution and stiff jail sentences. Any such firearms they surrender would be forfeited without compensation. [emphasis mine]See also Ravenwood's Universe, who provides a link to the Illinois State Rifle Association press release on the subject. Recall that in Illinois, you have to have a Firearm Owners ID card. Guess whose houses will be searched if this law passes.

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