Posted on 12/09/2009 2:11:22 PM PST by Still Thinking
Back door gun registration is being proposed for Wisconsin by Senators Coggs, Taylor and Lassa; Representatives Richards, Staskunas, Turner, Young, Sinicki, Berceau, Colon, Grigsby, Fields, Pasch, Kessler, Zepnick and Toles.
SB 367 is yet another attempt to infringe upon lawful gun owners in Wisconsin by making it a crime not to report a lost or stolen gun within 48 hours of discovering the loss or theft. I am not clear how anyone will know if a stolen gun that shows up at a crime scene just 5 hours after it was stolen is your gun or to whom it belongs. The fine for a first time offense is only $1,000 and or 90 days in jail. Should you have a second gun stolen and it is used in a crime before you report it, you risk a $10,000 fine and nine months in jail. Who is to say when you “discovered” it was missing which started the 48 hours clock? How do you prove you did not know what you did not know?
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
If one discovers the theft more than 48 hours after it 'might' have occurred, how could one report it after the fact without risking self-incrimination?
I doubt anyone will ever be convicted under this law if it’s passed. To be guilty you’d have had to have known your gun was missing for more than 48 hours and failed to report it. How can they prove beyond reasonable doubt the date at which you knew your gun was missing. Plus, if I’m not mistaken, WI is one of the large majority of states that doesn’t require private firearms sales to go through an FFL, so there’s no paperwork or government meddling involved. So if you said you sold your gun in a face-to-face transaction, how can they prove that isn’t true? The article just said you had to report “lost or stolen”; didn’t say anything about sold. Unless the law outlaws those sales or WI is one of the states like CA where they’re already prohibited.
bttt
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