gunsmith
member
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinio...ns/thursday/opinion_04a2db6a763250b20094.html
But at least some Republicans have not sold out to the r.i.n.o's!
Guns don't kill; records do?
By Jac Wilder VerSteeg, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Florida lawmakers, prominent among them Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, are promoting legislation that would make it harder for police to solve violent gun crimes. Perhaps Rep. Domino and the others are operating from benign ignorance.
Basically, Florida Senate Bill 1152 and House Bill 0155 would keep police from compiling records of pawned guns. The bills taking away that useful law-enforcement tool are framed in the paranoid prose often employed by National Rifle Association lobbyists: "The Legislature finds and declares that... a list, record, or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding firearm owners is not a law-enforcement tool and can become an instrument for profiling, harassing, or abusing law-abiding citizens based on their choice to own a firearm and exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."
Who knew that keeping track of pawned guns was such a threat to hard-won liberty? Most people understand that pawnshop records help police to track down stolen guns and guns used in crimes. Cops use pawn records to find stolen cameras, watches and necklaces. Guns are no different, and law-abiding gun owners have every reason to hope that police in Florida can continue to use pawn records to solve gun crimes.
Somehow, lawmakers such as Rep. Domino have taken it into their heads that keeping pawn records of guns might be unconstitutional. In a Jan. 29 letter to Delray Beach Police Chief Joseph L. Schroeder, chairman of the Palm Beach County Law Enforcement Planning Council, Rep. Domino writes: "Thank you for your letter dated January 13, 2004, expressing concern with HB 155.... The debate, of course, is whether the Constitution which guarantees the right to bear arms is violated by allowing governments to compile databases of individuals who legally own guns.... As a law-enforcement officer, I know you have many challenges, but I have sworn to uphold the Constitution and must make sure that individual liberties are not taken away."
Rep. Domino's concerns about constitutionality appear to be unfounded. The Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission asked the Firearms Law Center about the proposed Florida laws (for information about the center, see www.firearmslawcenter.org). Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney for the center, sent a lengthy response that included this plain conclusion: Federal courts uphold all kinds of firearms restrictions "and the Second Amendment is completely irrelevant to laws requiring firearm record-keeping."
The same memo addressed concerns that keeping records of pawned guns might violate Florida's constitution. The Florida Supreme Court "established that 'the right to keep and bear arms is not an absolute right, but is one which is subject to the right of the people through their legislature to enact valid police regulations to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the people.' "
The law center's memo says that, "undoubtedly using firearm-related records to investigate crime is a valid exercise of police power to promote the general welfare of the people."
The National Rifle Association wishes that federal courts would decide that record-keeping and other forms of gun control are unconstitutional. With enough Bush appointees, they might. But as of now, Rep. Domino and the others can't hide behind constitutional precedents. If they cave to the NRA, it's pandering for political reasons.
How else to explain the Legislature's performance on another NRA-backed bill? This one, which Rep. Domino has supported, would ban lawsuits to force gun ranges to clean up the lead from bullets, which over time accumulate in amounts large enough to pollute lakes and streams. Such lawsuits, you see, are "back-door gun control." Sheesh.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell can't understand the attack on pawn records. Neither can his fellow commissioners, who, along with the law-enforcement planning council, oppose restrictions on pawn records. Commissioner Newell notes that it's the small things, such as a surveillance camera that captures Carlie Brucia's abduction, that help police catch criminals.
Commissioner Newell puts pawn records in that category. They've been used to solve crimes, and no one has abused such lists to "harass" gun owners. What would we say to victims, he asked, "if we could have kept records to solve the crime but didn't?" Rep. Domino and his fellow legislators need to think about that question before voting on those gun bills when the session starts.
[email protected]
But at least some Republicans have not sold out to the r.i.n.o's!
Guns don't kill; records do?
By Jac Wilder VerSteeg, Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Florida lawmakers, prominent among them Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, are promoting legislation that would make it harder for police to solve violent gun crimes. Perhaps Rep. Domino and the others are operating from benign ignorance.
Basically, Florida Senate Bill 1152 and House Bill 0155 would keep police from compiling records of pawned guns. The bills taking away that useful law-enforcement tool are framed in the paranoid prose often employed by National Rifle Association lobbyists: "The Legislature finds and declares that... a list, record, or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding firearm owners is not a law-enforcement tool and can become an instrument for profiling, harassing, or abusing law-abiding citizens based on their choice to own a firearm and exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."
Who knew that keeping track of pawned guns was such a threat to hard-won liberty? Most people understand that pawnshop records help police to track down stolen guns and guns used in crimes. Cops use pawn records to find stolen cameras, watches and necklaces. Guns are no different, and law-abiding gun owners have every reason to hope that police in Florida can continue to use pawn records to solve gun crimes.
Somehow, lawmakers such as Rep. Domino have taken it into their heads that keeping pawn records of guns might be unconstitutional. In a Jan. 29 letter to Delray Beach Police Chief Joseph L. Schroeder, chairman of the Palm Beach County Law Enforcement Planning Council, Rep. Domino writes: "Thank you for your letter dated January 13, 2004, expressing concern with HB 155.... The debate, of course, is whether the Constitution which guarantees the right to bear arms is violated by allowing governments to compile databases of individuals who legally own guns.... As a law-enforcement officer, I know you have many challenges, but I have sworn to uphold the Constitution and must make sure that individual liberties are not taken away."
Rep. Domino's concerns about constitutionality appear to be unfounded. The Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission asked the Firearms Law Center about the proposed Florida laws (for information about the center, see www.firearmslawcenter.org). Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney for the center, sent a lengthy response that included this plain conclusion: Federal courts uphold all kinds of firearms restrictions "and the Second Amendment is completely irrelevant to laws requiring firearm record-keeping."
The same memo addressed concerns that keeping records of pawned guns might violate Florida's constitution. The Florida Supreme Court "established that 'the right to keep and bear arms is not an absolute right, but is one which is subject to the right of the people through their legislature to enact valid police regulations to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the people.' "
The law center's memo says that, "undoubtedly using firearm-related records to investigate crime is a valid exercise of police power to promote the general welfare of the people."
The National Rifle Association wishes that federal courts would decide that record-keeping and other forms of gun control are unconstitutional. With enough Bush appointees, they might. But as of now, Rep. Domino and the others can't hide behind constitutional precedents. If they cave to the NRA, it's pandering for political reasons.
How else to explain the Legislature's performance on another NRA-backed bill? This one, which Rep. Domino has supported, would ban lawsuits to force gun ranges to clean up the lead from bullets, which over time accumulate in amounts large enough to pollute lakes and streams. Such lawsuits, you see, are "back-door gun control." Sheesh.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell can't understand the attack on pawn records. Neither can his fellow commissioners, who, along with the law-enforcement planning council, oppose restrictions on pawn records. Commissioner Newell notes that it's the small things, such as a surveillance camera that captures Carlie Brucia's abduction, that help police catch criminals.
Commissioner Newell puts pawn records in that category. They've been used to solve crimes, and no one has abused such lists to "harass" gun owners. What would we say to victims, he asked, "if we could have kept records to solve the crime but didn't?" Rep. Domino and his fellow legislators need to think about that question before voting on those gun bills when the session starts.
[email protected]