Two views.
A sheriff:
Many gun owners spend a lot of time polishing their weapons, stocking ammunition – whether for hunting or home protection – and logging target practice hours.
But if their guns were lost or stolen, many of those people would have a hard time getting them back for one minor reason: They have no record of the weapons’ serial numbers.
Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said registering a weapon with the county can be a good way to log the gun’s identification for future reference.
“It’s a great way to keep up with the serial number,” Rushing said. “When people get them stolen or lost and don’t have them, we can enter them on (the National Crime Information Center) and everywhere else as stolen. It’s a good proactive way to keep up with your guns.”
I prefer an encrypted file on a CD buried somewhere in Idaho to accomplish the same task. But that’s just me.
Let us not be confused.
Point one: It’s not the job of police to keep us safe. It’s their job to catch criminals and bring them to justice. Any safety that results from their catching criminals and bringing them to justice is an ancillary benefit. Some law enforcement institutions naming themselves departments of “public safety” is a bastardization or corruption of their proper role in society. It’s a way of granting themselves carte blanche by implication– “Well, if it’s for “safety” then it must be a good thing…”
Let us not confuse justice with safety. They are different concepts, and the two ends require altogether different means. Safety is your responsibility, and justice is theirs. Don’t forget that there is a form of “safety” that’s rarely discussed anymore, though it is an extremely important one– safety from harassment or interference by government. It is the latter form of safety that our Bill of Rights was established, and this sheriff is poking holes in it.
Point two: As Joe said, keeping a record of your firearms’ serial numbers is a separate issue from that of giving said record to government interests. Sheriff Rushing would have us confuse the two. I can’t give my serial numbers to the police without first compiling them myself. Once I’ve compiled them myself, the record exists, and there’s no reason to share it unless and until a particular firearm has been stolen, and in that case the police don’t need my whole inventory list, but only the serial number(s) of the stolen gun(s). The same applies to all of your valuables. Guns are no different.
In trying to seem reasonable Sheriff Rushing is playing deception politics, but his slip is showing;
“He said he doesn’t believe there would be a reason that the government could, for any reason, (sic) seize guns from law-abiding citizens.
“No, I don’t see that ever happening. That’s our Second Amendment right, and I don’t see them being able to take that away,” he said.”
News flash– it’s already been happening. Registration makes it easier.
Take the Manual of Arms or paperwork that came with the weapon, make sure that serial number is recorded there and file it under “G” for guns, “W” for weapon, “B” for boom – whatever floats your boat.
The thief who stole your weapon when you were out (otherwise he’d have been introduced to your weapon in a different manner.) by breaking into your gun safe is not likely to go through your files to get said paperwork.
It’ll be tough for them to find if you filed it under “A” for Ambient Temperature Inducement….
Personally, I have a directory in my computer that has multiple, detailed photographs (taken from several angles and showing important identifying markings) of every gun I own, as well as a spreadsheet detailing the make, model, caliber, serial number, date of purchase, date of sale (if sold), where I purchased it from and (if sold) who I sold it to.
The entire hard disk is encrypted with TrueCrypt (not really concerned with the government doing anything, but it’d keep personal information out of the hands of thieves if they stole my computer). The pictures and spreadsheet are separately encrypted and backed up to an online backup service along with all my other documents, pictures, etc.
Thus, I maintain a complete record about each of my firearms, as well as keeping them safe from both prying eyes and data loss. If one or more of my guns gets lost or stolen — which I hope never happens — I can easily report all the relevant details to the police without having to register those guns with the police beforehand.
Also, I don’t “polish” my firearms…I clean them. Polishing a matte finish would be…bad.
If you want to go all low-tech, you can get one of these, and store in a lockable file-safe somewhere.
Originally designed to help C&R licensees, but capable of being used by anyone.
Um-m-m…I think I can handle recording that information in two or three different ways and safeguarding it, thanks just the same,Sheriff.
This guy’s really stretching for it, isn’t he?