Gun Registration

I wanted to address this in a separate post; Bethany posed this excellent question:
Bethany said...

I don't really understand gun licensing and registering. It seems like those would be good things. Maybe I’ve watched too much Law and Order, but it seems like they often solve crimes on some episodes by finding out who had the gun in the first place and then tracking where it went from there until they find the killer. I realize it’s a tv show, but is it really that far-fetched? Also, would this mean the gun owner would have to prove they know how to handle a gun before purchasing it?

Basically, I’d love more information on gun licensing and registering. I’ve been searching on the internet, but there is so much information I’m not sure where to start.

Thanks!

OK, there are many people that disagree w/gun registration for multiple reasons. One of the biggest reasons I feel gun registration won't work is the fact that criminals are not going to register their guns, more than likely they can't even legally own a gun so why would they bother registering an illegally owned firearm. If they stole the gun & use it in a crime the original owner may get blamed for the crime & even if/when he/she (original gun owner) is cleared of the crime the police have wasted valuable time & are more than likely back to square one. Criminals don't obey gun laws or lots of other laws.

Next reason I am against gun registration is basic paranoia; if the government knows where all the guns are it is much easier for them to come & take them away. Now having said that I don't know that the citizens of this great nation would allow our guns to be taken away by anyone, including our own government without a fight.

This website posed some interesting points on both sides of the debate I disagree with some of their information such as Gun registration will let the government know who has illegal weapons Again if they have the guns illegally I don't think they are going to bother to comply w/some government mandated registration.

In short (sorry this post was not supposed to be this long) yes in a perfect world gun registration would work exactly how the proponents of it say it would, but in a perfect world we wouldn't need guns. Hope this helps & doesn't just make people more confused. Feel free to post any questions or comments I would love to read them & try to respond.