Despite spending a whopping $2.7 billion on creating and running a long-gun registry, Canadians never reaped any benefits from the project. The legislation to end the program finally passed the Parliament on Wednesday. Even though the country started registering long guns in 1998, the registry never solved a single murder. Instead it has been an enormous waste of police officers’ time, diverting their efforts from patrolling Canadian streets and doing traditional policing activities. Gun-control advocates have long claimed that registration is a safety issue, and their reasoning is straightforward: If a gun has been left at a crime scene and it was registered to the person who committed the crime, the registry will link the crime gun back to the criminal. Nice logic, but reality never worked that way. Crime guns are very rarely left at the crime scene, and when they are left at the scene, they have not been registered — criminals are not stupid enough to leave behind a gun that’s registered to them. Even in the few cases where registered crime guns are left at the scene, it is usually because the criminal has been seriously injured or killed, so these crimes would have been solved even without registration. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/291304/death-long-gun-registry-john-r-lott-jr
The good news is that they realized how wasteful & stupid this was, & actually reversed course. How many bad laws that our government makes... ever get cancelled? There was a similar attempt here some years ago with regard to handguns... requiring (Federal gov) a gun fingerprint from every gun sold. Every gun imprints a unique marking on any cartridge. Some states did it, but it also was a huge bust. The Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division has called for scrapping the state's ballistic imaging program, the Maryland Integrated Ballistics Identification System (MD-IBIS), stating it has found the system to be an ineffective tool for law enforcement. The program has cost the taxpayers of Maryland more than $2.5 million, but has produced no results. "There have been no crime investigations that have been enhanced or expedited through the use of MD-IBIS," the report says. "The program simply has not met the expectations and does not aid in the Mission statement of the Department of State Police." Others have tried to get barrel fingerprints a required mandate for the sale of any gun. Another equally stupid idea, as anyone who knows even basic knowledge about grinding compounds & cleaning understands. What liberals don't understand... is that criminals don't obey laws. So the burden & cost of such laws falls on the law-abiding & responsible people. And then the huge (& never-ending) bureaucracy to oversea & constantly update such data bases, costs a small fortune. But what all these (laws) are aimed at isn't safety as much as a way to (eventually) outlaw & confiscate ALL guns (at least from non-criminals. ) That's exactly what they did in the UK recently. First they required all guns registered... then they confiscated them (& destroyed them). (After they promised they wouldn't). Even expensive antiques. Then the crime rate went through the roof. At least we have a bill of rights here.
Don't know if you've caught any episodes of this new series "Doomsday Preppers" on NATGO. There's folks doing everything imaginable to prepare for any number of life altering circumstances. From power grids going down due to EMPs triggered by nuke or solar flares, economic collapse and the ensuing civil chaos, war, natural disasters, etc. They're storing huge quantities of food, getting fit and trained in self-defense, loading up big time on guns and ammo, you name it. And the one family that stood out the most (not easy to do given the variety of flavors) was a NYC fireman. He's planning for TEOTWAWKI due to terrorist attack via nuke or biohaz. Poor bastard...first, if the sh*t does hit the fan, no one in an urban setting has a chance. Just too much going against you from highrise/elevator buildings with no power or water supplies, no fireplaces, no transportation, no means of producing/growing food or livestock, roving mobs, etc. Well this scared guy lives in the Bronx and in NYC it's illegal to own a gun unless your a cop, politician, security service, gov't agent or criminal. All the law abiding citizenry is left to be attacked and killed as unarmed sacrificial lambs. So all that's left for him to protect his family with are knives and an aluminum softball bat. Now he's got quite the knife collection and he's getting knife fighting training...which may help him if the bad guy/s come with knives and don't have guns! But of course they will have guns when they finally come! The only thing gun laws are meant to do, is to protect the ruling class from the law abiding citizenry when things go sideways. Gun laws certainly don't stop or discourage criminals from obtaining and possessing guns and they certainly don't register them. The Founding Fathers knew the dangers of government over-reach well and made certain the right to bear arms for self protection was the 2nd 'must have' item checked off on our newly created Constitution.
Thoughts on gun ownership from the good guys: "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." - Thomas Jefferson "I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials." - George Mason "The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed." -Thomas Jefferson. "The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." - James Madison. "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." - Thomas Jefferson "Arms in the hands of citizens (may) be used at individual discretion...in private self defense..." - John Adams "Arms...discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property...Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them." - Thomas Paine. "To disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way to enslave them..." - George Mason "The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." - Alexander Hamilton "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined...The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun. - Patrick Henry. "To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them" - Dick Henry Lee "The Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." - Samuel Adams "The right of the people to keep and bear...arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country..." - James Madison "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -Thomas Jefferson "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government..." - Alexander Hamilton "As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms." - Tench Coxe "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. the supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States." - Noah Webster Thoughts on gun ownership from the bad guys: "Government begins at the end of the gun barrel." - Mao Tse-Tung "One man with a gun can control 100 without one...make mass searches and hold executions for found arms." - Vladimir Lenin. "If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves." - Joseph Stalin. "Gun registration is not enough. Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal." - Janet Reno "Our main agenda is to have all guns banned. We must use whatever means possible. It doesn't matter if you have to distort the facts or even lie.Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed." - Sara Brady, Chairman, Handgun Control, The National Educator, January 1994, Page 3.
You two lunatics are against any regulation of gun ownership at all. Creating a gun "signature" is common sense to all but the most partisan hacks, like you two. You guys wish we lived in a world where every nut job would have the right to massacre dozens every time a girl turned them down for a date. Oh wait, we already live in that world.
You apparently have so little faith in the majority of your fellow countrymen to be responsible and law abiding, that you're willing to forfeit your right to bear arms for the protection of your own family and property. The bad guys have guns and will always have guns. They don't register their guns and if all the manufacturing of firearms in the USA were banned tomorrow, then overnight a massive black market available for bad guys (only) would spring up. Unfortunately, it appears you're "that guy" who foolishly brings a knife to a gun fight. If you had read the OP article, you'd see that Canada is ending their failed gun registry because the results of it's intent were abysmal. It did nothing to prevent or solve crimes committed by the use of firearms. What it did prove, was that assaults and murders by firearms was a fraction of all such cases. That there's actually far less crime occurring when the law abiding citizenry are armed and less vulnerable to attacks. That bad guys will acquire guns somehow, someway, no matter what. That bad guys don't register guns and don't leave them behind at crime scenes unless they're captured or killed in the process of committing their offense. None of the right of American citizens to bear arms need to ignore or discount states rights and the unique character of our states from both population density and land mass standpoints in determining appropriate safety needs. Obviously, regs relating to permissible discharge distances would vary widely based on population densities and the topography of an area. What's safe and appropriate for discharge in Montana is clearly not in Manhattan. My question to you is, do you trust politicians? Any politician? I know you don't and/or you shouldn't. It's not a left vs. right thing. It's an are you willing to trust politicians with your very life and the safety of your family thing. Do they care one lick about you (the individual) other than your continued ability to pay taxes? Or do they care about their unquenchable thirst for greater riches, power and control? Have you ever studied the Founding Fathers or read the Federalist Papers to understand their concerns about government abuse and over-reach that were as relevant then, as they are prescient today...some 236 years later. Are you a member of the naive and trusting Sheeple, or We the People?
Flooding the market with guns insures that criminals get them. If everyone had guns, it wouldn't matter if the "vast majority" behaved responsibly. Every single lunatic with a sidearm would be the final arbiter of my, or your, life and death if he so chose. There is no undoing the damage from a gun. Once someone is killed, they are gone forever, and when someone has a gun in a dispute of any kind, they have the power of God. Personally, I do not like giving that kind of power to every man and woman in our society, because most of them can not handle it.
("are against any regulation of gun ownership at all") Ah... exactly where did we say that? I'm for basic rights... and I'm for public safety. That includes prohibitions for defamatory speech, threatening speech, and weapons for criminals & those psychologically unstable. Er... that's regulation. As for (the various) gun"signatures"... you missed the meat of the article. IT'S NOT COST EFFECTIVE! Common sense? Only a damn fool would continue throwing money down rat holes. You know what IS cost effective? Human fingerprints.
Over 3 million people have died by autos in my lifetime. And almost all were (totally) innocent, unlike many deaths from guns that are criminals or suicides. So... should we ban autos? Why TF not?
Neither Jack or I have uttered a word advocating for "flooding the market with guns". Guns are lethal as you point out. Safety regs by state statute are requisite, as well as extensive training and practice for all owners. Still, you seem unable to come to grips with the fact that the criminal element will always find the ways and means to procure as much firepower as they want. I'd rather you had protection by which to defend yourself when the "lunatic with a sidearm" materializes.
