Gun Registration - for what purpose?

There have been gun registration schemes before, and we'll have them again and again. The answer of course is to just keep fighting against them.

The job of a libertarian is never finished because as Thomas Jefferson reminded us: "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."

If you believe in liberty for yourself and others, we must fight together, and never has there been such a clear reason to do it as HR 45, a national gun owners licensing and reporting bill.

This bill sets the stage perfectly for gun confiscation through a national registry and self-reporting of "license" violations.

House Resolution 45 is also known as Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009

It's a frontal assault on the right to keep and bear arms in America. All freedom loving individuals should rally against this bill as it:

• Requires a license to purchase, own or possess a handgun, the weapon of choice for self-defense against crime. It turns gun rights of the law-abiding into a privilege that we can exercise only if we pay for it, renew it each 5 years, and only if it's approved by a political appointee of the Obama administration.

  Self-defense is a natural right, and one that is enumerated as a civil right in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. How can any clear thinking individual regulate such a thing?

  The bill's sponsor is Bobby Rush from Chicago, so apparently he is satisfied that gun registration and licensing in Chicago has worked well enough to go nation-wide. Think again Bobby.

• Establishes a national firearms and firearm owners registry for handguns and other firearms that can accept a magazine. Gun registration by the law-abiding has always been the precursor to firearms confiscation. At no time has a registration of firearms ever not been followed by a confiscation of firearms.

  I could point to places around the world, but I don't have to. Just take a look at California - confiscation followed gun registration like night follows day.

• Bans private party sales of handguns, even for lawful purposes. Gun runners and black market sales won't be affected.

• Requires passing a written test before a license is issued to own or possess a handgun. The right to worship, speak your mind, publish your own newsletter, hire an attorney, or have a jury trial has no such prerequisite - not yet anyway.

• Allows the Attorney General access to private information such as mental health records as part of the application process. This opens the door to disqualifying most Americans from possessing firearms as it is easy to classify panic attacks, shyness, nervousness and other short-lived or minor emotional issues as a mental illness.

  Couple this with a national health care program, and doctors will no doubt be required to report any such symptoms, and that will result in license denial or revocation.

  The gun registration and gun ban supporters know that they don't have to ban handguns, they just have to revoke licenses to own them, and they've accomplished the same thing - for the law-abiding that is.

• Requires notification of loss or theft of firearms so the federal government can promptly do absolutely nothing to recover the weapon. Of course, that's not the point of the requirement, it's to have you document a reason to have your license revoked.

• Sets up a mechanism to revoke firearms licenses due to loss or theft since the applicant must certify that firearms will be safely stored, otherwise you can't get the license. A loss or theft will, on the face of it, be evidence enough that the licensee hasn't complied with terms of the license.

  You'll have to prove that the loss or theft wasn't something within your control - much like proving to the IRS that your deductions were allowable. In the meantime, your license will be revoked, and that will become part of government records as well.

  And, don't forget, since you complied with gun registration, they'll be coming for your license and your handguns.

• Requires notification of change of address for licensees, much like a convicted sex offender, or someone that's on parole.

  This bill proposes to treat the decent people of this country like criminals, even in the absence of a criminal offense. And, if you don't have a criminal offense on your record, you soon will - just fail to report to the Attorney General that you've changed your place of residence.

  Why do they need to know where you live anyway? To come and get your guns of course - all the guns you listed on your license application/gun registration.

Once again it's clear that this gun control measure isn't about guns, it's about people control - but not about crime control.

Of course, none of the requirements of this gun legislation will be complied with by criminals, because they don't follow the law. Once again, the responsible and law-abiding citizen is penalized in the hopes of affecting the actions of criminals.

Moreover, this gun registration bill is named after, and apparently a response to, the death of Blair Holt, a 16 year old that was shot and killed on a Chicago Transit Authority bus in 2007 by another youth of 15 who made his way on board with a handgun. Four others were injured in the shooting.

According to witnesses at the scene, who were waiting for the bus to arrive, the assailant discussed his plans to shoot one or more individuals on the bus. Okay, so some guy tells you he's going to kill someone on the bus, and what do you do?

In Chicago, you just stand there and watch it happen. You know, you have to be certain he wasn't just pulling your leg.

The proper political response might have been to arm bus drivers so all passengers could be better protected. Or, allow citizens to carry concealed weapons so they could stop a lunatic intent on shooting others.

Instead, this tragic incident is used to craft legislation that moves America closer to disarming a law-abiding public - something that criminals love to see happen. It also requires gun registration - something criminals won't comply with.

Once again, we have a mass public shootings that is preceded by the killer explaining to others what is about to happen. This scene has been played out on a New York subway, a Texas diner and a University in Virginia. Like the song says: "When will we ever learn?"

In each case, there was plenty of time to respond had individuals been allowed to be armed. More gun control simply means more opportunities for maniacs to have their way with innocents in their path. John Lott is right: "More guns - less crime" or at least less severe consequences of criminal activity.

And, why in the world are we thinking about more laws like gun registration. Isn't a 15 year old with a concealed weapon in Chicago at least a few violations of gun laws all by itself - even without a shooting? Okay, sorry, those are minor details that we can't be troubled with - we need to get more gun legislation passed.

Gun registration isn't the answer to any of our ills. We have sick people, and they need to be dealt with.

Let's remember our libertarian roots. We have the right to keep and bear arms for good reason - protection from criminals, and their witless and unwitting accomplishes in Washington.

Done with Gun Registration, take me back to Gun Control