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Coalition Against Gun Violence |
Originally appeared in Newsletter Vol. x,
No. y, December 1999
How does such a person acquire a handgun. The fact is that no one knows who possesses a firearm because the NRA has convinced our legislators that this information would be an invasion of privacy. After a background check, all records of the gun purchaser are now destroyed within 24 hours, thanks to the influence of opponents of any form of gun control
Clearly stated, in today's political climate there is a perception that gun control is a "hot button" issue. The NRA targets for defeat any candidate for any office who supports gun control legislation of any kind. Therefore, except for some long-time champions, a climate of fear has been created in opposition to what the public wants-- which is sensible gun control laws--according to many repeated reliable polls.
The problem needs correction in many areas. Gun proliferation and easy access to firearms has resulted in the 29,000 gun deaths annually in America. Gun tragedies occur daily in places where Americans have the right to expect to be safe. When will people stand up and say, "We are mad as hell and we won't take this any more"?
For more than sixty years, handgun registration and owner-licensing have been acknowledged worldwide as the most effective way to minimise handgun-related death and trauma. In almost every democracy, police see handgun registration as an essential crime-busting tool.
In addition to laws that would curb the unbridled gun proliferation in this country and reduce ease of access, an effective system of handgun registration and owner licensing could help to prevent tragedies such as the one our community has recently experienced.
These two parallel systems of accountability – that is, licensing the owner, and then registering the gun – are closely linked and interdependent. It is the experience of many countries that neither measure works well without the other.
Background checks, while useful, are insufficient to protect the public from random gun violence. In a New Mexico pawnshop, where Sanmarcos purchased her gun, a background check revealed no problems, even though her background (as recently researched) revealed she had been placed on a 72 hour involuntary mental health hold at Vista Del Mar Psychiatric Hospital in Ventura in 2001 and on medical leave from the US Post Office for psychological problems in 2003.
In California, people with a history of mental illness are prohibited from purchasing or owning a firearm, but without strict registration of firearms when they are sold or transferred, how could law-enforcement keep track of a weapon? A workable plan would include the requirement that all guns be registered; renewed annually with a small fee to cover the costs of the registration system; failure to register would lead to the revocation of the license; the registered owner must promptly report theft or transfer of ownership and no allowance would be made for the possession of an unregistered firearm.
Registration will help ensure that gun owners are held accountable for their firearms, do not sell them illegally or give them to individuals without appropriate authorization. It will also help ensure that guns are safely stored. It will provide a mechanism for stopping the flow of handguns from the legal market (licensed dealers) to the criminal market. It prevents illegal transfers by making the registered owner responsible for what happens to his or her handgun, and makes owners periodically take responsibility for their guns by renewing their registrations. Registered handguns which fall into the wrong hands, can immediately be traced back to the last registered owner, who will face serious criminal charges unless they are able to show they properly transferred the weapon.
The argument that criminals will not register guns falls flat because each manufactured gun has an identification number. Every mass-produced gun used in violence began its life as a legal firearm in the hands of a lawful owner. We know that there are a small percentage of crooked gun dealers and the ATF needs to target those dealers. We also know it takes from 18 months to 3 years for a legally sold gun to make its way, somehow, into the crime market. Registration would help law enforcement trace guns both to criminals and to those who should not be in possession of a firearm, such as a person convicted of domestic abuse or who are mentally ill.
Claiming that gun registration will not prevent crime is akin to opposing automobile registration as failing to prevent accidents. It is time we break through the NRA-fostered taboo against gun control measures that could help to make it far less likely for a Jennifer Sanmarcos to bring tragedy to our communities.
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