Gun Registration and Licensing

Gun Registration and Licensing by Jeremy D. Blanks, Ph.D. Click your mouse or use Page Down to advance each stage of this presentation

Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Current Proposals by Gun Control Supporters and Politicians • Develop universal registration and licensing schemes for all law-abiding citizens • Establish government agencies responsible for implementation • Move toward a long term position of a “needs based” licensing system • Ban various classes of firearms through registration • And the so called “treat guns like cars” approach Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Effects of Registration and Licensing Schemes • Implementation of various taxes and fees upon law-abiding citizens that wish to own a firearm for self-defense and/or sporting purposes • Estimated initial costs of over 10 billion taxpayer dollars to establish and support government agencies undertaking gun registration • Loss of individual rights to own a firearm under the “needs based” system • Confiscation of various classes of firearms after registration • Deter law-abiding citizens from owning firearms via taxes, harassment, and bureaucracy Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Effects of Registration and Licensing Schemes Continued • Discourage law-abiding citizens from being responsible for their own self-defense and that of their families against violent murderers and rapists • No tangible anti-crime benefit • Increase in crimes such as home invasion, rape, assault, murder, and other violent crime frequently prevented today by law abiding citizens with a gun (over 2 million such crimes every year) Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

The New York Example • In 1967, New York City passed an ordinance requiring a permit to own a rifle or shotgun - each to be registered • Concerns over future use of such registration lists to confiscate firearms dismissed as paranoia • In 1991, New York City passed a ban on the private possession of various semi-automatic rifles and shotguns • New York’s honest citizens, who had been licensed, were told that any licensed firearms that were covered under the ban had to be surrendered, rendered inoperable, or taken out of the city • People with licenses were threatened with “spot checks” Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Countries Which Have Employed Gun Registration Schemes and the Results • Great Britain - Registrations led to bans and confiscation • Australia - Registrations led to bans and confiscation • Canada - Registrations led to selective bans and confiscation • Other countries that have implemented registration schemes that resulted in confiscation include Ireland, Greece, Jamaica, Russia, Cuba, Bermuda, China, and Germany Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Specifics on Registration and Licensing in Great Britain • The British Firearms Act of 1920 required citizens to provide a “good reason” for receiving a firearm permit • In 1936, a secure storage requirement was added to the permit process • These laws were initially enforced moderately • Over time, such laws were applied with greater severity to remove essentially all firearm ownership rights • Currently, all handguns, semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, and pump-action shotguns are banned • The crime levels in Great Britain now exceed that of the U.S. and have been going up consistently since their gun bans of the early 1990s • Self-defense against a violent criminal is now viewed as a high crime in England Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Will Criminals Register their Guns or Obtain a License? • The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that criminals are not required to register their illegal firearm in Haynes v. U.S. (309 U.S. 85 (1968)) • The ruling states that registration requirements would be a violation of a criminals 5th Amendment rights • Besides the formal ruling by the Supreme Court, it is obvious that criminals and those that illegally obtain firearms today will not suddenly become law-abiding and register their firearms or obtain a license in the future Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Should We Treat Guns Like Cars? • Currently, cars maintained on private property are not subject to any registration or licensing requirements in almost all areas of the U.S. • High powered sports cars are not banned even though they can well exceed speed limits • Background checks for previous drunk driving convictions, vehicular homicide or even the possession of a drivers license are not performed on car purchases • No waiting periods are required for car purchases • There are no storage laws even though cars are frequently stolen and used in crime and violence Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Guns Like Cars? • Cheap and inexpensive cars are not banned • Drivers licenses are rarely revoked even after multiple serious offenses, such as drunk driving, excessive speeding, and multiple accidents • Cars are far more dangerous than firearms with cars responsible for 32 auto deaths per 100,000 cars and firearms involved in only 16 per 100,000 • Car deaths are mostly accidents, whereas > 95% of all gun related deaths are intentional and the result of crime • Driving a car is NOT a Constitutionally protected right, but rather a privilege! Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

A True Gun-Like-Cars System • Already present in the 31 U.S. states that issue concealed carry permits • Such concealed carry laws are strongly opposed by gun control groups regardless of the lower crime rates that have consistently and continually resulted from such measures • Permits require background checks, testing, and other means that exceed most car license requirements • States that have enacted such laws have seen an immediate and continual drop in crime rates with few if any instances of problems from those licensed to carry firearms Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Conclusions • Gun registration schemes inevitably lead to confiscation of firearms from law-abiding citizens and the removal of self-defense rights • Gun licensing is focused on honest citizens and therefore only penalizes and taxes those that are not responsible in any way for crime or violence • Criminals are not required to register their guns or obtain a license based on Supreme Court rulings • The billions of dollars required to fund such a process would be simply wasted, instead of used to support proven crime fighting measures and programs • There is no crime fighting value to registration or licensing and in fact such measures will lead to an increase in crime and violence Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

References • •

Kopel, David B. “Why Treating Guns Like Cars Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea,” Reason Magazine, November 1999. http://www.reason.com/9911/fe.dk.taking.html Lott, John R., “More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws,” University of Chicago Press, (1998).

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Kopel, David B., “Lethal Laws,” 15 N.Y. L. Sch. J. of Int. & Comp. L. 355-398 (1995). http://www.2ndlawlib.com/journals/lethal.html Cramer, Clayton E. & Kopel, David B., "Shall Issue: The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Permit Laws,” 62 Tenn. L. Rev., 679-757 (1994). http://www.2ndlawlib.com/journals/shall-issue.html Gottlieb, Alan M., “Gun Ownership: A Constitutional Right,” 10 N. Ky. L. Rev. 113-140 (1982). http://www.2ndlawlib.com/journals/gottcon.html Dowlut, Robert, “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms: A Right to Self-Defense Against Criminals and Despots,” 8 Stanford L. & Pol. Rev. 25-40 (1997). http://www.2ndlawlib.com/journals/dowdesp.html U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Haynes v. U.S. (309 U.S. 85, (1968)) Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL

Recommended Reading • •

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Levinson, Sanford, “The Embarrassing Second Amendment,” 99 Yale L.J. 637-659 (1989). http://www.2ndlawlib.com/journals/embar.html Cottrol, Robert J., “A Liberal Democrat's Lament: Gun Control is Racist, Sexist and Classist,” The American Enterprise, (Sept./Oct. 1999). http://www.theamericanenterprise.org/taeso99b.htm Kopel, David B., “The Untold Triumph of Concealed Carry Permits,” 78, Policy Review, (1996). http://www.policyreview.com/ju196/labs.htm. Kopel, David B., “Canadian Gun Control: Should the United States Look North for a Solution to its Firearms Problem?,” 5 Temple Int'l & Comp. L.J., 1-50 (1991). http://www.2ndlawlib.com/journals/dkcjc.html Kopel, David B., “Why Good People Own Guns: Better Safe than Sorry,” Los Angeles Times, p. B-5, (November 26, 1993). http://i2i.org/SuptDocs/Crime/Why_Good_People_Own_Guns.htm

Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/DSGL