My View
The idea of repeating other states' mistakes of the past by implementing mandatory licensing to own a gun sounds like it will help our citizens, but when one looks into the facts of the situation the misguided logic begins to reveal itself.
We must assume the goal of such a law would be to decrease violent crime, but licensing has not reduced crime in other states that have implemented it, especially for our neighbor to the south. Massachusetts has one of the most difficult and convoluted licensing procedures in the country, has many models of firearm that are prohibited in the state, and has registration for transfers of firearms between individuals. Yet New Hampshire, with no licensing or registration and only the federal background checks in place, was ranked the number-one safest state by The CQ Press' "2008 Crime State Rankings" while Massachusetts was just 22nd.
California is another state with strict licensing and prohibited firearms types. It is the only state given a passing grade by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence. Yet their violent crime rate has increased since they implemented these procedures and according the FBI's 2006 statistics there were 6.8 times more homicides per 100,000 residents in California than in New Hampshire. Sadly the only people that licensing actually prohibits from getting a gun are law-abiding citizens, often minorities, who are not affluent enough to afford the classes and fees involved with the application process, and they are statistically the ones most likely to be a victim of violent crime where a gun may have been useful for self-defense.
In Washington, D.C., where, until a Supreme Court decision last year, keeping an operable gun in your home for self-defense was illegal, violent crime has increased dramatically since strict gun control was implemented. For instance, in 2006 the FBI reported that there were 1,508 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in the city of Washington D.C. while New Hampshire had only 139 per 100,000 residents.
I'd be willing to wager that almost every reader of this paper keeps a fire extinguisher or a smoke detector in his or her home. Some of those same readers would almost claim that they don't need a firearm for protection, but according to the Center for Disease Control's 2005 Statistics, U.S. residents are 6 times more likely to be killed by a violent assault than by a house fire.
I will not deny the fact that some gun owners can be irresponsible and either through negligence or ignorance can cause injury or death to themselves or others, but what I propose is a system of personal responsibility instead of the broad restriction of all gun owners because of the failures of a few. What if the government decided to limit all cars to a capability of only 50 mph because someone crashed into a crowded sidewalk while not paying attention? After all who really needs to go faster than that? Sounds quite familiar to banning magazine capacity for all legal gun owners because of the actions of a few criminals. Why not just prosecute the irresponsible gun owner who supplies the gun to a criminal for the felony they have already committed?
The huge amount of money that would need to be spent on a licensing system for our state would better be spent on keeping the violent criminals or those who provide them with guns in prison. Or better yet to educate our students on firearm safety. Most gun control advocates would shudder at the idea of children learning about guns, but the reality is that education and awareness are the keys to combating any problem and ignorance of gun safety procedures could cost a person their life.
The burden of this issue lies on the legal gun owner to continue to speak out and show that he or she is not the problem. We must continue to call for those who supply criminals with firearms to be held responsible for their actions. We must educate others on the safe and responsible use of firearms for hunting, recreation, and most importantly self defense. We must focus on laws that punish those who harm others with a firearm not laws that restrict the common citizens who wish to defend themselves and their families.
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Anthony Pino is a registered gun owner and a resident of Manchester,
