Canada had a long gun registry for over a decade. not a single crime was solved and over 2 BILLION was spent on it. Massachussetts has a ballistics registry/database and not a single crime has been solved with it. over 50 million spent on it.
And yet Canada DOES have a lower gun death rate, Canada has 2.3 per 100,000 population compared to the US 10.3 per 100,000 population -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate.
I consider that a telling statistic. ANY time we compare the US gun violence rate to any other industrialized country, the US loses the comparison. Is it just because of gun registration or is it because of all the other controls or a combination? Nothing exists in a vacuum and to try and single out registration as if you could is just wrong.
I also see you have provided no sources for your claims of "not a single crime" or the monetary cost and demand I prove or disprove the negative. I won't play that game. It's your job to support your own claims and not mine to disprove your unsubstantiated opinions.
When someone is murdered, why do the police look for the murder weapon? Perhaps you think they are just looking for a souvenir? I think that having the murder weapon or at least knowing the suspect owns a weapon of the same type that killed the victim is valuable information. If the weapon in question can be matched to bullets taken from the victim, that's sort of important too. If the suspect is listed as owning such a weapon and now it has gone missing? another data point. It all adds up to a better chance at a conviction.
Toronto has passed legislation to cancel it's long-gun registration. Opponents of the move point out "women are more likely than men to be injured or killed as a result of domestic violence. When firearms are used, legal rifles and shot guns are usually the weapon of choice.- When the registry was in place, police responding to domestic violence calls relied on it for information about what weapons they may face. It also helped officers determine the number of guns they may need to remove. As a result, women were safer, they argue." - The outcome of the court challenge to this change is still in doubt.
The other thing about a registry is in support of checks at the time of purchase. Is s/he a felon or a violent mental patient? Perhaps a known professional killer? How about a mass murderer on the 10 most wanted list? If you do not maintain records how do we know any required checks have taken place?
All that said, how does it relate to releasing the Newtown photos? Is this just another NRA tactic of always changing the discussion when it get's uncomfortable?
