Quote:
Originally Posted by liberty556
PennsyPlinker
I agree that we need fewer guns laws and that the law abiding need less red tape to deal with. I certainly don't want people charged for being a victim of crime. It does seem silly to me that a law is needed to enforce reporting when the good people in our society are going to do that anyway. I guess I am looking at this from the perspective that I would report the theft of any of my personal property. The item that was stolen is irrelevant in terms of deciding to calling the police and my insurance company. Something of mine was taken and I want it back.
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I think we are in agreement about the general principle. In fact, shortly after my wife and I were married almost 24 years ago I had to fill out a missing shotgun report with the police. My brother-in-law left it in the moving van when we were moving and it went back to the rental agency. I searched all their trucks, did not find it, and reported it immediately to the police. The good news is, the owner had it locked up in his office and I got it back the next day.
No, the problem with a law like this is that there is too much wiggle room for the authorities to criminalize an innocent gun owner for not following some obscure procedure. It is nothing more than a tool to creep a little closer to taking them away altogether. Let's look at my own example.
I noticed my shotgun missing later on the same night the truck was returned. The rental company did not want me to look at
any of their trucks, and would not let me on their property until I threatened them with either me looking or me and the police looking. But suppose I hadn't done that, and just waited meekly until the next day, or until the next business day two days later to talk to the owner. Then suppose that the local cops had it in for gun owners. All of a sudden I am a criminal
for not reporting the gun stolen, even if it turned out it wasn't. The only law that would have been broken would have been the reporting law, but that would be enough to make me a criminal and prevent me from owning a gun in the future.
That is why laws like this are bad laws. It looks good on the surface, and why would anyone be against "common sense" gun laws like this one? But it isn't common sense, and one does not have to look very far to see the unintended, or (much more sinister),
intended consequences.