I need an education...

[MrUgly]

I am known as the company "gun guy". Anytime a "gun" question comes up, I am usually the one asked. Normally, this is not a problem for me, and I am very quick to preface the answers, with "Well, in my opinion..." but this morning I was asked "Why do gun owners hate the notion of be required to report their gun lost/stolen?". It was a hard question for me to answer as I have never really given it much thought. As A law abiding gun owner, if I found that one of my weapons was lost/stolen, I'd be on the phone to law enforcement as soon I was sure I simply didn't mis-lay it.

My argument went something like this:

"I think most gun-owners view this as a 'victimize-twice' law. If I understand correctly, the law states that you must notify the police withing a set time from the theft. Given that I may not know when a gun was stolen, I would be made a criminal for failing to report a crime that I was not aware of. Personally, I don't see a problem with legislation that requires notifying the law when the crime is discovered."

We went around this point for a few minutes, and I thought I handled it well, but it brought to light a fundamental ignorance on my part. I am very pro 2A, but on this, I think I may not have all the facts.

Why is legislation requiring reporting lost/stolen so onerous?

[chugger95]

I see it the same as you. The victim of a crime will be charged with one for not discovering it in time. And if the law is "from the time of discovery" what good will it do? In the event they found a firearm purchased by someone was in a criminals posession, all the purchaser would have to do is say "wait my gun is right here, holy crap somebody must have stolen it. I guess I'd like to report a stolen gun."

[Dave in PA]

Mostly a knee jerk reaction, who really wants more laws governing what you do?

The basis of the law is probably to combat the straw purchasers: Actor #1 is arrested for a crime where a gun is used. The not a registry registry is searched and find that the gun was purchased by Actor#2. When confronted by the cops as to how Actor#1 came to posess a gun bought by Actor#2, Actor#2, realizing they are involved will say "I don't know that gun was lost/stolen from me a month ago" Then Horatio tells Calleigh they have to release Actor#2 because they can't link Actor #2 to the crime.

Personaly, I would call the police to report any stolen property of mine. My homeowners insurance will require the police report to pay out.

It is an example of 'reasonable sounding' regulation that really has absolutely no external effect, but will open up gun owners to additional liabilities.

[MrUgly]

I just noticed the poll in Q&A. That has most of the debate I was looking for. Sorry for the mis-placed thread.

[ThunderingWind]

.....Then Horatio tells Calleigh they have to release Actor#2 because they can't link Actor #2 to the crime.

Wait!!!! My world is shot to heck!!! I thought the CSI shows were reality TV of Las Vegas, Miami and New York that were nicely edited. I send letter to H and the gand every day asking about thechniques used and cases they worked. Man, now I have to re-think if I am really here.

But in all seriousness, I understand wanting to do the right thing and report a lost or stolen firearm.

And I agree with not wanting to be labeled a criminal just because I was on a world cruise.

Enforce the laws we have now. Make the sentencing guidelines more solid. No time off for good behavior. Start treating the criminals like criminals instead of Civil Rights poster children.

[Kies99]

I'm with you MrUgly.

Regardless of law or not, if I lost or had one stolen I'd report it. That's just to cover my backside.

I'm fine IF the requirement says you have to report it within 72 hours OF MY NOTICING IT'S MISSING/STOLEN.

If you are required to report it within 72 hours of it BEING LOST OR STOLEN, that's a problem. I may not look at my guns for a week or what if I'm on vacation for a week and it's stolen right after I left? What then??

Ex: if my gun is stolen on Sunday and used in a crime on Monday and I don't notice it's gone until Friday and report it until Saturday, will these time frames be used against me as I reported it missing well after it had been used in a crime?

[djturnz]

As I understand it the law does this.

Person A can't buy a gun due to background check, but wants to kill person C really bad. Person A gives Person B money to go buy a gun for him. Person A kills person C and leaves the gun behind. The police find the gun, trace it back to person B who says "oh yeah, that gun was stolen, i forgot to report it." As it is, Person C is basically off the hook.

After the new law:

Person A can't buy a gun due to background check, but wants to kill person C really bad. Person A gives Person B money to go buy a gun for him. Person B waits a week and reports the gun stolen. Person A kills person C and leaves the gun behind. The police find the gun, trace it back to person B, they see that the gun was reported stolen and don't even bother to call Person B about it, except maybe to tell them their gun was recovered. Still, Person C is basically off the hook.

Basically this law would stop nothing but the stupidest of criminals. But it could potentially hurt the law abiding gun owner who keep s a rifle at his hunting cabin and only notices it was stolen after 6 months. Then that hunter is now responsible for proving he just now found out it was missing.

Most of the laws that Philly tries to start have one major flaw:
MOST CRIMINALS DON'T BUY GUNS IN GUN STORES.

I really don't see how even a guy with a clean record could go about buying several handguns to sell out of his van could make it.
1. it's not like he gets a discount, his prices would be rediculous
2. I think it would be much easier to buy gun that have been stolen and sel them
3. I can't imagine that if I were buying Hi-Points by the dozens, that I wouldn't get a knock on my door from some sort of agency with Initials.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

[Buckmark.35]

As I understand it the law does this.

Person A can't buy a gun due to background check, but wants to kill person C really bad. Person A gives Person B money to go buy a gun for him. Person A kills person C and leaves the gun behind. The police find the gun, trace it back to person B who says "oh yeah, that gun was stolen, i forgot to report it." As it is, Person C is basically off the hook.

Actually person C has been whacked. Person B gets off the hook.