Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve in PA
How is reporting a stolen firearm going to lead to LEO's "cracking down" on the people that report it?
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It's not, it's going to lead to the opposite, which is going after those owners which didn't report it. What if a crime was committed before the owner even knew the gun was gone? Unlikely, but possible in the case of theft. When a crime is committed, law enforcement and the DA should be focused on the criminal first, not the potential victim of a theft or misplaced weapon. Where it came from doesn't change the fact that the crime was committed by an individual, and that individual is not necessarily the owner of the weapon.
I don't think there's a person out there who LEGALLY owns a weapon that wouldn't do the right thing and report it, if/once they knew it was stolen. But to codify that into law and set a penalty for those that don't report is IMHO making a criminal out of a victim. And for those that would willingly hand over a weapon to a criminal, there's already laws on the books to punish them, namely straw purchase and illegal transfer laws.
To me, the most dangerous thing about such a law is that over time, it will cause a change in perception and thought. Over time, it will be seen as acceptable for law enforcement, and the public at large, to pre-judge and condemn gun owners simply for owning a weapon and being a victim of a theft, misplaced, or lost firearm. And that type of thinking, when codified into law, opens the door for more sweeping gun control legislation, as it sets the mental foundation that "guns are bad, gun owners are worse".