Posted on 03/03/2011 7:04:23 AM PST by shortstop
First they came for our bicycles.
Now they’ve come for our guns.
One day after word leaked of a New York State plan to require license plates and annual fees for bicycles, information has gotten out about pending legislation that would register and attach a fee to every firearm in the state.
Already one of the most anti-gun states in the country, New York’s move would all but nullify the Second Amendment.
At issue is Senate Bill 2994, which is linked in its entirety at the bottom of this column. It would require every gun owner in the state to make a list of their firearms, to include make, description and serial number, and file that list with the county clerk.
Further, gun owners would have to specify where in their homes each of their firearms were stored when not in use.
And there would be a $25 fee charged for each gun – which would have to be renewed annually at a cost of $10 each gun.
Firearms owners would be issued a photo ID listing the guns registered to their name.
If a gun was sold, swapped or stolen, that information would have to be filed with the clerk.
Failure to obey any particular of the proposed law would be a misdemeanor.
Why do they want to do this?
Here’s what a memo from the sponsor says: “Through the use of an annual firearm registration, we are able to have better tracking supervision of the firearms circulating in New York State. There are many firearms that are illegally possessed in New York State but by implementing a constant registry of firearms we can come a step closer to identifying those illegal firearms. Also with this annual registration of firearms, firearm owners are better protected by law if the firearm is stolen or lost and something unfortunately happens with their particular firearm.”
Better tracking supervision of the firearms circulating in New York?
Is it the government’s business to track or supervise the firearms in the state?
Notice that this bill isn’t just about handguns – which are already registered in the state – it is about all guns. That means family heirlooms and hunting guns are also subject to registration, and expensive ownership fees.
Registration is the foreplay of confiscation, and this piece of legislation would put the physical location of every legal gun in the state at the touch of the government’s finger. The government would know who had guns and where they kept them.
And so too, presumably, would anyone who filed a freedom of information request. New York has already held that its pistol permits – which include personal information as well as a list of handguns owned – are public records. This new list of guns and gun owners would also be a public record.
Which means the bad guys have just learned where every gun is. That tells them what houses are unprotected, that tells them what houses they should burglarize.
And with the list of where each gun is stored, it will make burglary all the easier.
This bill is an assault on freedom, a disrespect to the Second Amendment, and a perfect illustration of the burden of oppression New Yorkers suffer under. It is part of the ongoing enshackling of the American people.
It is the insane perspective of big-city liberals, this is a good thing. This is a play to a progressive constituency which is intolerant of any perspective other than its own.
Prospects for passage are uncertain.
New York’s governor is an anti-gun Democrat. New York’s Assembly is controlled by anti-gun Democrats. New York’s Senate is controlled by Republicans. But they have a one-vote margin, and – it being New York – some of them are anti-gun.
So this bill has a fair chance of becoming law.
Which means a test of how much people will take might be coming.
Because this is none of the government’s business. Gun ownership should not be subject to an annual fee. Gun registration is un-American. Carrying around a photo ID to prove you’ve registered your deer gun is offensive.
And many New Yorkers won’t take it.
This may be the one that drives the law-abiding into law-breaking.
Because my guns are none of the government’s business. And where I keep them is none of the government’s business. And I’m not going to pay an annual fee to exercise a constitutional right.
Ditto.
Though I was amused by seeing how extreme a gun I could get there. Sheriff was amused when I aked for his signature for an NFA 12-ga pistol.
Sounds more like you have a criminal populance, not criminal guns.
What a duffass!
Leave the state and take your money with you, fools.
no, No, NO!
Unfortunately, I have family there and because my mom is there (especially) I travel to that s***hole of a state at least once a year, to visit the last few good people in the state
FUNY. If they want money they should put a $100/year tax on every illegitimate kid living in the state. That should rake in $100 million easy.
blah blahhhh, blah blah blah blah blahhhhh, blah blah blah blah blahhhh, blah blah blah blah...BLAH!!! Hey!
;-)
I think they’ll make the standard protestations, send out to the membership the usual mailers for more donations (which will pizz off a lot of people for some reason), I guess some believe they do, or can do, this stuff for free...
At the end of the day I am glad I don’t have to do a damn thing with my guns...
New York gets what it votes for...
A few of my firearms never had serial numbers.
firearm owners are better protected by law if the firearm is stolen or lost and something unfortunately happens with their particular firearm
If your gun is stolen, report it to the police. You're protected. That's how it works now, and this won't help any better.
Reason number 237 why I will not take up my sisters request for me to move back to NY. Sorry anout that sis.
That’s federal law. NY law, and definitions of what constitutes a firearm, may differ.
Guess they just like giving SCOTUS the additional opportunities to say “NO!”
Hard to feel sorry for New Yorkers though. When you elect the fornicating son of Mario the Pious as your Governor, what can you expect?
YUP. Read it in the 60’s...and in the 70’s...and in the 80’s...and in the 90’s.
When I first moved to WV from NYC in ‘02, I had a conversation with a young college student. She had just taken a trip to Fun City and she asked me, “Why do they have so many rules in New York?” I pretty much replied with my tag line. Three days later I gave her a copy of the book. The last time I saw her (still in ‘02) she was carrying it around with a highlight pen as a bookmark.
The movie is coming out soon brother Lurker...
I guarantee you will never again find me north of Tennessee and east of the Big River.
Ping
Right, right - vote with feet - while we still have the freedom.
NH gun laws are great and may soon get better - our legislature is considering doing away with CCW registration entirely (like VT and AK). New York sucks in just so many ways...
LOL! I actually have one! It works great with CCI Mini-Mags. It's my tackle-box gun; won't cry if it falls in the lake!
No less than Bill Clinton credited NRA with making the difference in Algore’s losing presidential campaign.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.