REGISTERING GUN OFFENDERS

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Occasionally, like the blind squirrel finding the nut, the Racine Journal Times editorial board gets one right.

They’ve endorsed a proposal to create a database of gun offenders, people who have committed crimes with firearms, similar to sex offender registries. It doesn’t register all firearms and gun owners pre-emptively, which we vehemently oppose and is based on the conclusion that the majority of crimes committed with firearms are committed by repeat offenders who have used firearms in the commission of crimes previously.

Although the effectiveness of sex offender registries in reducing crime is questionable, they do keep the public informed about what’s happening around them and suggest who in society should be singled out for particular scrutiny. The same rationale can be used for gun registries.

Even with all the vilification that accompanies the gun control debate, no one argues against penalties for people who break firearms laws. The registry idea is an interesting sort of compromise between the extreme anti- and pro-gun positions.

It registers people who have committed a crime and are likely to repeat, yet it emphasizes existing law and doesn’t affect law-abiding citizens. It doesn’t register guns or all gun owners as a preemptive act. This makes a good deal of sense, and it should at least be tried locally.

I’d be OK with this. Of course, I’d prefer to see mandatory 10 to 15 years tacked onto sentences for use of firearms in the commission of a crime. That extra time in the Crowbar Hotel really reduces recidivism, since the thugs aren’t on the streets to begin with.

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