What type of music do you like the most?

[Iron Mike]

I like it all!!!

Even the shitty stuff--like this:

http://www.myspace.com/kinguszniewicz

[the_idle_threat]

I might be OK with registration if it would stop there, but too often it is a convenient precursor to confiscation. No thanks!

Idle, I don't quite understand what you mean by that...can you explain?

I will do my best.

Basically, gun registration tells the government exactly where the guns are. Of course, this isn't all guns---just the ones owned by the law-abiding types who would register their guns in order to comply with the law.

Then, if the government decides to ban some or all of these guns (i.e. handgun ban), they know exactly which doors to knock on and which addresses to send stern letters to, offering the Hobson's choice of (1) a buyback, or (2) a visit from the BATFE. All the while, there's a convenient checklist of registered guns that can be used to ensure compliance. Of course, the only folks who get stung are those law-abiding types who registered their guns to begin with, who are not likely to be the ones committing crimes in the streets.

Perhaps this sounds like some kind of paranoid rant, but it has happened this way before.

See:

Australia:

Against a background of public support in the wake of the Port Arthur shootings and comparatively weak opposition from gun owners' organisations, sweeping laws were proposed for enactment in all states, which included mandatory gun licenses and registration of all firearms, and a near-complete ban on all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, and all pump-action shotguns. . . .

The Federal Government introduced a 1% levy on income tax for a period of one year to finance the billion dollar "buy back" purchase and destruction of all previously legally-held semi-automatic rifles including .22 rimfires, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns.

A comprehensive gun ban, and higher taxes too! Whoopee!

Canada:

"[Opponents of the Canadian Gun Registry] claim that their fears that registration would inevitably be used for confiscation of legally owned firearms have been proven by small scale confiscation of some types of firearms and the Liberals' promise to confiscate all handguns if elected in the 2006 general election."

Britain:

Per the above source, handgun registration started in 1903, was extended in 1911 and 1920, and ultimately led to an outright ban---with very limited exceptions for target shooters---in 1997. For other types of guns, one registration scheme led to another---with bans for most uses along the way---until:

Thanks to decades of . . . restrictions aimed at restricting entry into the shooting sports, the vast majority of the public has no familiarity with guns, other than what media choose to let them know.[127] Legal British gun owners now constitute only four percent of total households,[128] with perhaps another small percentage of the population possessing illegal, unregistered guns.[129] Given that many Britons have no personal acquaintance with anyone who they know to be a sporting shooter, it is not surprising that seventy-six percent of the population supports banning all guns.[130] Thus, the people who used long guns in the field sports--who confidently expected that whatever controls government imposed on the rabble in the cities who wanted handguns, genteel deer rifles and hand-made shotguns would be left alone--have been proven disastrously wrong.

And even municipalities in the U.S.A.:

Registration and Confiscation

But why all the fuss about gun owner registration? Quite simply, gun registration has been used -- even in this country -- to later confiscate firearms. One such instance occurred in New York City just a few years ago.

It all began with promises made by New York City officials in the mid-1960s. They wanted to register long guns, over the vocal opposition of the city's gun owners. The city fathers promised they would never use such lists to take away firearms from honest citizens. But in 1991, the city banned (and soon began confiscating) many of those very guns.

Gun owners were ordered to get rid of their newly-banned firearms. Those who didn't comply were subject to having their firearms taken away.

For example, the Daily News reported in 1992 that "police raided the home of a Staten Island man who refused to comply with the city's tough ban on assault weapons, and seized an arsenal of firearms.... Spot checks are planned [for other homes.]"30

New York City officials do not hold a monopoly when it comes to showing bad faith.

California passed a ban on certain semi-automatic firearms in 1989. Banned guns could be legally possessed if they were registered prior to the ban. In the spring of 1995, one man who wished to move to California asked the Attorney General whether his SKS Sporter rifle would be legal in the state. The citizen was assured the rifle was legal, and based on that information, he subsequently moved into the state. But in 1998, California officials reversed course and confiscated the firearm.31

Since then, documents leaked from the office of the California Attorney General have showed that state officials were planning a mass-confiscation of privately owned firearms from citizens who had previously registered their guns.32

The semi-automatic firearms in question were registered with the state pursuant to former Attorney General Dan Lungren's instructions. Lungren had granted an amnesty to thousands of gun owners and allowed them to register their guns after the initial deadline for doing so had lapsed.33

Despite the good faith shown by gun owners, the California government later ordered these gun owners to dispose of their weapons.

How did the authorities know whom to contact to notify them to turn in their weapons? The registration lists, of course.

This proves the point that the ultimate goal of registration is to facilitate confiscation.

Not surprisingly, gun registration has also led to confiscation in several places outside of the United States, including Greece, Ireland, Jamaica and Bermuda.34

More recently, full-fledged confiscation of firearms has taken place in England and Australia. Gun bans that were passed in 1997 resulted in massive turn-ins of firearms.35

Wherever they existed, registration lists greatly facilitated the confiscation. For example, one Australian news service reported that:

"Victoria's high compliance is due to its long-established registration scheme, which will tell police where to look for illegal firearms after 1 October. The absence of a registration scheme and lower compliance elsewhere has led to speculation that up to two million illegal guns may still be out there.36"

Any questions?

[mraynrand]

Idle,

If that's the way you feel, then you should support Huckabee.

[the_idle_threat]

I hated that movie. :P

I try to know something about politics and all, but the only thing I know about this Huckabee guy is his goofy name. As a contender, does he really have more credibility than Tommy Thompson?

I'm really discouraged by the so-called choices we'll likely have for the top job in '08.