Virginia Beach City Council is proposing a new law that would hold responsible lawful gun owners if their guns are stolen by criminals:
Virginia Beach City Council wants a law that critics say, will punish the crime victims, the people who had their guns stolen. If the gun owners don’t quickly report lost or stolen firearms, they could face jail time. Now some people will say, good, of course stolen guns should be reported. But others say the Beach’s idea does nothing to stop the thieves, or the violence, but instead targets the good guys.
This proposal simply re-victimizes a victim of a crime. It's victim shaming. It also presupposes that the majority of crimes are committed using firearms stolen from people who don't report the theft. The nine states that have passed mandatory reporting of stolen firearms boast some of the highest firearm related deaths in the country: Illinois, New York, Michigan, District of Columbia, New Jersey. How does passing a law penalizing lawful gun owners reduce crime when laws already criminalizing prohibited firearm possession and misuse are in effect?
Maybe local governments can ask the media not to aid criminals who want to steal guns, for starters.
It's a messed up world when “moderate Syrian rebels” are treated better with regards to firearms than American citizens.
h/t Tom T.
