It seems that some conservatives may be leaning towards universal background checks, which we know can only be enforced by registering all firearms in the USA. The usual analogy is "cars are registered, so why not guns?"
Here are some reasons why this is a false analogy:
1. A car is a public good. It consumes public resources when it is used legally: highways, gasoline, pollution, etc). This public cost needs to be offset by state registering of cars. Notice there is NO FEDERAL registration of cars.
In contrast, a gun does not consume public resources when used legally. It is shot on a range, or kept hidden from public view. The only time it consumes a public resource is if it is used for hunting, and for which there is a state-issued license fee already (again, NOT FEDERAL).
There is no economic reason for gun registration.
The only reason for gun registration is if a government wants to know what arms its citizens legally possess. Why would a government want to know that? It is not going to prevent any crimes. Historically, the ONLY reason for gun registration has been to confiscate them.
Since the second amendment was create expressly to prevent a central tyrant from taking over the people, a database of who owns what can only be of use to such a tyrant.
Look at:
https://reason.com/archives/2013/12/11/how-government-officials-sealed-the-doom
The film above is excellent, though a bit graphic.
2. There are huge costs to setting up and maintaining the bureaucracy to maintain these records. Assuming ownership of 400 million firearms, even a 1% error rate will result in 4 million ownership records being incorrectly marked as out of compliance. This is not acceptable.
3. Driving a car is a privilege. It is not a constitutionally protected right. Registering your guns is equivalent to registering your Internet login names and passwords, from a constitutional standpoint.
Please consider emailing this to others and contacting your Congressperson and Senators to OPPOSE universal background checks, which lead to gun registration.
Here are some reasons why this is a false analogy:
1. A car is a public good. It consumes public resources when it is used legally: highways, gasoline, pollution, etc). This public cost needs to be offset by state registering of cars. Notice there is NO FEDERAL registration of cars.
In contrast, a gun does not consume public resources when used legally. It is shot on a range, or kept hidden from public view. The only time it consumes a public resource is if it is used for hunting, and for which there is a state-issued license fee already (again, NOT FEDERAL).
There is no economic reason for gun registration.
The only reason for gun registration is if a government wants to know what arms its citizens legally possess. Why would a government want to know that? It is not going to prevent any crimes. Historically, the ONLY reason for gun registration has been to confiscate them.
Since the second amendment was create expressly to prevent a central tyrant from taking over the people, a database of who owns what can only be of use to such a tyrant.
Look at:
https://reason.com/archives/2013/12/11/how-government-officials-sealed-the-doom
The film above is excellent, though a bit graphic.
2. There are huge costs to setting up and maintaining the bureaucracy to maintain these records. Assuming ownership of 400 million firearms, even a 1% error rate will result in 4 million ownership records being incorrectly marked as out of compliance. This is not acceptable.
3. Driving a car is a privilege. It is not a constitutionally protected right. Registering your guns is equivalent to registering your Internet login names and passwords, from a constitutional standpoint.
Please consider emailing this to others and contacting your Congressperson and Senators to OPPOSE universal background checks, which lead to gun registration.
