Heres’s a bulletin: some Chicagoland Democrats look upon gun owners as scary, deplorable people. As such, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that here in the Land o’ Lincoln, we have gun owner registration. In other deep blue states, those same Democrats have passed legislation to register particularly scary types of guns. Especially those frightening modern sporting rifles sometimes referred to as police patrol rifles.
In reality, we all know that registration lists don’t prevent (or even solve) crimes. We also understand that registration lists too frequently become confiscation lists, as government agents come to collect those guns – by force if necessary. If anyone doubts this, just look to California.
In a perfect world, gun registration – and gun owner registration – would never survive court scrutiny and be ruled unconstitutional. However, we don’t live in a perfect world. The Schumer wing of the Democrat party hates guns, gun owners and the part of the Constitution that impedes them. At the same time, of course, many of these same elitist politicians love their armed protective details.
To keep government agents from showing up at their door at un-Christian hours, some gun owners simply skip registration. Yes, this carries risks, but it also brings a certain peace of mind. I personally know of people who ignore gun owner registration in Illinois. Yes, that prevents them from getting a concealed carry license here. Then again, these same people have ignored prohibitions on concealed carry for decades without issue. “Better to be tried by twelve than carried by six,” they say.
Non-compliance runs far more common in states with gun registration laws. An overwhelming majority of New Yorkers simply ignored Governor Andrew Cuomo’s SAFE Act and refused to register their guns. NPR and many other news outlets have reported on the rampant non-compliance. Connecticut and California gun owners feel much the same way about inclusion on government lists.
California’s new laws give gun owners three choices on what to do with their freshly outlawed self-defense tools. They can surrender their guns – without compensation – to police. Alternately, they can sell them to a dealer or ship them out of state. The Golden State’s too-smart-by-half legislature seems to discount the possibility that gun owners will forgo the fourth, unwritten choice as articulated by the Sacramento Bee; “Keep your mouth shut and keep your magazines stashed.”
The question for the Armed Intelligentsia: Do you know people who have explored this unwritten alternative option to state-mandated gun registration schemes? Tip for the day: don’t self-incriminate.