The Constitution identifies the right to keep and bear arms (i.e. to own and carry them) as an individual right like freedom of expression and freedom of worship. This has finally been confirmed by SCOTUS decisions in McDonald and Heller.
I've a very simple question for those who advocate registration of guns in any form...
what purpose is served by requiring gun registration?
Here are some common purposes for registration:
1.
Vehicle registration:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_registration
2.
Voter Registration:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registration
3.
Sex offender registration:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registry
Example #1 is about crime detection and taxation, #2 is about controlling access to something you are otherwise entitled to, while #3 is about keeping track of something.
So it seems to me that the purpose of gun registration would fall into one or more (if not all) of these categories; thus gun control is often justified as a means to more easily detect a gun used in a crime, to tax gun owners, to authorize ownership, and to keep track of which citizens own guns.
I wonder which of the above, or other reasons those who advocate for gun registration consider valid and why.
Why should they be taxed?
How does it detect crime?
Why control access (at least to those with no violent criminal record)?
Ultimately, why keep track of who owns, what they own, and where they are?