[Torie]

Have you addressed as to whether there is any evidence that gun registration reduces crime? Generally, the burden of proof is on the party that wants to impose another inconvenience, to give it the most benign spin possible. I personally think that the suggestion that gun registration represents a major step towards a JBT state is way overdone, but even more overdone is the suggestion that registration will accomplish much that is positive in curbing the the Hobbesian condition. It is just one of those iconic cultural issues, that carries a lot of other baggage.

[Pitchfork]

You raise a good point. The evidence is ambiguous. I can point to countries like Canada where guns are controlled, and violent crimes are rarer and say yes there is evidence. Of course what works for Canada (or Britain or Australia) may not work in America. Conversely some may note that crime is high in areas of the US with restrictive laws. But establishing the direction of causality is problematic and the transportation of guns across state lines (while it may be illegal) won't stop determined individuals from violating the restrictions.
Perhaps Hawaii, in its isolation, would serve as an example of how gun restrictions might work in the US since the only way to get there is by plane etc.
I'd like to collect data and test hypotheses empirically but as I've noted the gun lobby doesn't want that to happen. This precluded the kind of cost-benefit debate I'd like to see and favors the beliefs-rights-constitutional rights debate that so many here seem to favor.