District of Columbia

[branford]

30. Why does the NRA (and most other gun rights groups) oppose a national gun registry?

One needs only look to strong gun control countries like Britain and Australia, who most gun control advocates cite as "models" for firearm regulation, and how such lists were used as part of confiscation efforts (to say nothing of how the lists have recently been mishandled by states like New York both for improper confiscation and attempts at public shaming).

You may believe gun rights proponents are wrong or even evil, but they're certainly not stupid. These proponents would need to be unmitigated fools to willingly agree to such an obvious incrementalist approach to eventual gun bans that also have such a great risk of abuse.

There are also ways to expand and improve background checks without registration list problems, such as opening-up NICS to non-FFL's. These ideas have generally been summarily dismissed by gun controllers precisely because achieving registration lists would become more difficult. It's just another point in the long list of examples of how many gun control advocates and organizations make the perfect the enemy of the good, and will routinely sacrifice matters they claim will improve safety and security in their pursuit more draconian restrictions that clearly lack electoral support (and according to Pew and Gallop, continue to steadily lose the support they currently enjoy).