We Register Cars Every Year, Don’t We? Why Not Guns?

Every year, I renew my auto registration. I put a bright colored sticker on my license plate that shows the expiration month. I don’t like it, but I do it.

Why? Because if I don’t, I will be pulled over and ticketed. If I continue to ignore the law, I will face having my car impounded. If I don’t pay the impound fees I risk losing the car altogether. As a result, the State of California collects money from my auto ownership based on the value of the car and they have up to date records on most of the vehicles in the State.

While driving is a privilege and not a right, there are similarities between owning a car and owning a gun. How often have we been told that an automobile is a lethal weapon? If I have one or several DUIs or commit some horrible crime that involves my car, I could lose the privilege of driving a car, face jail time, or both. And evidence of the offense would be carried on my driving record for several years after I have paid my debt to society.

I propose that gun registration be an annual requirement of gun ownership. Here are the benefits:

Reduction of guns based on the expense of maintaining dormant guns
Increased funds to enforce gun registration laws and maintain gun intelligence
Registration could be tied into City, State and Federal Records (start local)
The annual gun registration database would maintain a record of gun purchase, ownership of the gun and of the gun owner including criminal record, warnings from physicians
Family members and friends could send warnings to be annotated on the registrant’s record
Impounding of guns would be made easier if laws were passed to do so
Proper sale of guns would the responsibility of the owner (same as auto and smog certificates)
Stockpiling of guns would be reduced due to:

Annual Local Gun Registration Law Proposal

A local Firearms Council would need to be established for each community. For incorporated cities, this would likely be handled through local elections. Each community would establish its own standards of acceptable conduct. The points made below would vary by community.
Initial registration is required for all firearms prior to taking possession, or, in the case of firearms already owned, brought into the jurisdiction.
Annual renewal of the registration would be required on or before the registration date. Any amendment to the owner’s file such a DUI, neighbor complaint, physician report or family member warning would require the approval of the Registration Review Council to renew the registration. Guns would be impounded until the Review Council has made a determination as to the fitness of the owner to continue the ownership of the guns.
Any person who enters a city with an established annual gun registration law, without a permit for that city will have all of their guns impounded immediately without warning or a search warrant.
Criteria for the right to bear firearms would be established by the local Firearms Council and amended as needed to adapt to situations as they arise. These criteria would be used in influencing determinations such as the precedent of law is used in court rulings. Example: Neighbor B files a complaint on neighbor B for firing a gun on the fourth of The Firearms council would determine if this individual would have their registration permit revoked or be given a warning. Multiple infractions would likely lead to gun revocation. It would depend on each communities’ Firearms Council standard of safe and acceptable conduct.
Registration would include owner name, current address and other identifying information about the owner of the firearm; names of manufacturer and importer; model, type of action, caliber or gauge, and a serial number of the firearm.
Registered owners are required to report any loss, theft or transfer of the registered firearms to law enforcement within a short time of the event and to turn in their registration card or certificate upon loss, theft or transfer.
Registered owners are required to store all firearms safely and securely
Additional restrictions may include limitations on where registered firearms may be possessed and to whom they may be transferred (particularly relevant for certain classes of firearms such as assault weapons, 50 caliber rifles, and large capacity magazines)

Where to Start?

Start local in those municipalities that are capable of passing such a law. Ideally, ones with their own Police Department that could maintain the database. When the data shows a reduction in crime and gun violence over time, more cities will want to pass similar annual gun registration laws. Assuming a town has 30,000 (one per resident) an annual fee of $25 would raise $750,000. Higher fees would produce higher income. A sliding scale could be considered based on value and age of guns.

A Technologically Enhanced Version.

Annual registration in and of itself will bring many benefits. Owners of guns could be required to keep a copy of the registration with the gun at all times. If the basic concept of annual registration can be made law, a technology-enhanced version would soon follow. Using GPS technology and micro-sized batteries (found in cell phones) an annual “sticker” with the embedded chip could be applied on, or embedded in the gun. The benefits would be:

Immediate visual recognition of gun registration compliance
Triggers notification to owner and law enforcement when the registration expires
Enable tracking of / location of firearms

Frequently Asked Questions

They wouldn’t. But this would make it easier to identify unregistered guns and impound them. Background checks would disqualify many from having the guns returned.

Annual gun registration more efficiently identifies changing situations that can pose dangers to individuals and the public. People who lose their job, injure family members, commit a felony, get DUI are more likely to commit a violent gun act. The system can easily be set up an early or immediate warning system when a family member sends a warning, or court renders a judgment. Law enforcement can come and impound any gun with expired registration on the day it occurs. The system can easily warn the owner via email and mail that this will happen so they are not surprised by the outcome.

The fees would cover the cost of the registration and the enforcement. If you don’t meet the criteria, your registration is revoked and you are required to turn in your guns. You can pay to hold them until you are permitted to have them back (like an impound yard). How many times have you heard that the criminal using the guns had psychological issues, felonies, etc.…but there is no mechanism now to take the guns out of the hands of dangerous? This proposal assumes that people are dynamic. They may be safe, until they lose their job, lose custody rights, DUI, etc. Allowing someone to buy a gun at 25 should not entitle them to possess the weapon forever. Especially if their situation changes. The database and enforcement of the rules are what the collected funds would be used for.

It is impossible to draw the line so all guns would need to be registered. However, the cost could be reduced dramatically and duration expanded to accommodate gun collectors such as yourself. If you sell the gun, must report it just like a vehicle. I would like your suggestion on what criteria constitutes a collectible gun. With cars, it tends to be age. Could you apply this to guns with confidence? Our would a world war II machine gun be considered dangerous in the wrong hands. As a benefit to collectors, a photograph of each gun should be required as a part of the registration process. This would aid in the identification and recovery of stolen guns. The registration fees would enable a more robust accounting of all guns on an ongoing basis.

Our forefathers were smart and forward thinking. They expected future generations to adapt the constitution to the situation – should the new republic survive – which many doubted. We already have gun registration laws that in some ways augment the interpretation of the Second Amendment. My thesis revolves around annual registration the enforcement of the registration. I have 5 cars. I hate paying each year. But I know that our streets are safer because of annual registration. Why are they safer? Because there is a positive correlation between those who have expired auto registrations and unsafe vehicles. Either funds or neglect gets in the way of paying that fee. And the vehicles of those owners are bound to be less safe – neglecting brakes, tires, oil changes, etc. Annual vehicle registration produces safer roads. Annual gun registration would produce safer cities.

You could begin is a single community that would be in favor of it such an ordinance. Some cities have annual leaf blower licenses. By having this ordinance in your city, the cops could confiscate any guns help by a resident or visitor without a warrant or hearing. This would increase safety. If the crime rate went down, the home values would increase and Beverly Hills may adopt the same ordinance.

There is no comprehensive national system of gun registration. In fact, federal law prohibits the use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to create any system of registration of firearms or firearm owners. In addition to Washington DC, only 9 out of 50 states and 3 out of 5 US territories have any sort of gun registration. And in most of those cases: 1) a gun is registered one time only – when it is purchased; 2) antique or inherited firearms are exempt, and 3) no permanent records of registration are maintained. In fact, it is a felony under Florida law to create, maintain or publish any list, record or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding firearm owners, for fear that profiling would occur. Only Hawaii and the District of Columbia require the registration of all firearms. Iowa State law requires a person acquiring a handgun must have an annual permit to acquire pistols or revolvers. But this requirement applies only when you are buying or selling. The permit documents the transaction at the time of the transaction and has no bearing on future ownership. Only New York requires that handguns are re-registered every five years.