Trying to be objective

Exactly. The fact that you had a gun stolen at all may trigger an ERPO, since you obviously aren’t responsible enough to keep control of your firearms.

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Gary, that is the implied reason for this type of law. However, it still fails in that critical element - preventing illegal transfers of firearms. It does create an onus on law-abiding citizens, which as others pointed out is just one more burden, and legal liability, which that peril can be another reason not to obtain a firearm. I can easily see where an innocent person could fall foul of this law. The law is vaguely written and does not state when the clock starts ticking, except discovery of loss. When would that be? Before the police arrive? Were you even home then? Would your spouse know which firearm(s) was stolen if you were not there to take inventory?

Discovery could reasonably be days, weeks, months after the theft, based on the circumstances of the theft. Would that be believed by the authorities seeking to punish you for not timely reporting the loss and hold you criminally liable based on that law?

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How would they even make a firearm that transferred the serial number onto a fired round? They would have to somehow etch the chamber so the casing would expand and imprint when fired. Is that even possible? Do they also want it to transfer to the projectiles? If so, the only possible way I can think of is to have the rifling be different and identifiable for each and every different firearm. The worst thing about all of this to me is, it will not even begin to stop stolen firearms from other states or countries from coming in.
I’m so glad I’m in PA BUT, with our governor we may be coming right in behind NY, CA, IL, and the other states with gun laws that protect the criminals and make criminals out of law abiding citizens. He has already proposed most of the same things for us and we all know that more laws dont stop crimes.

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Dave,
Well said and I agree. Many (most) of these laws are ripe for abuse.
I read of a case locally where a man was charged with a misdemeanor for malicious use of telecommunications services after complaining about how the court and a judge handled his sons custody case on Facebook. He continued complaining about the inherent evil of the system which motivated a judge to increase his bond from 10,000 to an absurd 500,000 for allegedly violating the no-contact condition of his bond. This resulted in him spending two months in jail while waiting for his misdemeanor trial. It took the jury 27 minutes to find him not guilty.

Background: He had argued that the child’s mother was unfit and that the child needed regular medical therapy. The child ended up dying in her custody, so he was grieving. The judge in the custody case made the initial complaint that she was afraid of the man even though he had no prior criminal record and no firearms. I can imagine the fraidy judge having him charged with a felony had he owned firearms.

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Virginia resident here. At a glance, this falls into the “whats so bad about that” category. It’s actually quite crappy, especially when considered with the totality of the proposed anti-gun legislation proposed this session. There were/are several proposed bills that are meant to make it difficult to own by increasing taxes or paperwork. Or to demonize “guns” in general such as a “Gun Violence Prevention Fund”, which if it were adequately named and purposed would be a “Violence Prevention Fund”. The VCDL has a legislation tracker that lists all the gun related bills (both for/against) and what happened to them.

Consider SB85. It creates mandatory minimum terms for those using stolen firearms in a violent crime, stealing firearms, or selling or distributing stolen firearms. Meaning it punishes the criminals who stole a firearm, use it, or sell it. It was passed by in committee. There were a couple other bills, also passed by, that would create or increase penalties for using a firearm in commission of a crime. These bills, IMO, would reduce the incentive for criminals to steal a firearm in the first place, or to use it in a crime later on if it was stolen.

Instead, they’ve chosen to punish the victim of theft instead. The victim in this case will be regular law-abiding citizens who’ve done nothing else wrong. Reporting within 24hrs is rather arbritary, any reasonable person will report a theft as soon as they notice it there is no need for a fine. There is an implication that if you don’t report it promptly means you are somehow liable for the actions of another (the criminal who stole it, or the criminal he sold it to, etc). There is no other precedent for this. If someone steals your knife and stabs someone else, you are not responsible. If someone steals your car and runs over a pedestrian, you are not responsible. And in neither case are you fined for someone stealing your knife/car and you not reporting it soon enough.

I can tell you I am reasonably certain that I would know pretty quickly if one of my firearms was stolen. I am in my safe almost daily. But I have a friend or two, that keep a firearm hidden away in a closet or under the bed and because they dont use them often (range trips once or twice a year) it could be months before they discover it was missing/stolen. Someone like that would find out it’s missing when the cops showed up to their door. Under this law do you think they would/should get fined or held liable?

Most gun-control proposed by anti-gunners falls in this category. “Why do you object to a background check, if you have nothing to hide?”, but the opposite question is rarely answered, which is “what do we gain by doing this?” and the answer is effectively “nothing”.

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@Nathan13, you are right…how would they do that?

They cannot. You might be able to have the firing pin mark the primer, but I think that’s why they specified two markings. The technology does not exist and would be difficult to implement, hence is why they passed the law. In effect, it’s a slow ban.

Such laws do nothing to prevent, identify, or apprehend criminals. It’s about limiting or banning gun ownership.

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Remaining objective, what other property do you believe you should be required, by law, to report as lost or stolen or face fines? And while I would need to verify, I do not believe I am liable for criminal actions involving any other stolen property. For example, someone burglarizes my home, steals a knife, and kills someone with it - would I be facing charges today?

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Emphatically NOT True about being Irresponsible for Someone stealing a Weapon from You.
I had a Trusted Nephew who got on Drugs & then Stole anything & everything from EveryBody he could.
He (thru My sister) Knew what & how to do to get into My place. If I get the chance…Best left unsaid !

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I hope you recognized my sarcasm. I was describing things as the leftist would see it.

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No, I really didn’t recognize the Post as sarcasm

But that might be attributable to My ever increasing

“Fear” that I’ll DIE in near Future when “They” come

to Take MY Weapons!

Guess I’m a bit Paranoid😬on that subject😡& I’m sure You can relate.

LesB

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24 hrs seems to be not necessarily enough time as well…maybe 48 to 72hrs would be more appropriate I understand the urgency to alert police of a lost firearm but…yeah,maybe 24 hrs is best!!!

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I did recognize it as such. :slight_smile:

@Les4 Drugs absolutely ruin the life of the user and severely impact everyone around them!
Our eldest daughter is 31 already, and her life is ruined. She still has no job, nothing other than drugs and criminality. Les, they/he could come back for more. Once you’re on the radar of having any kind of tangible asset worth stealing you have to use more caution. We had to step things way up. New locks on the doors, cameras, gate code changes, and now, even though we are secure out in the country we lock the doors, it’s truly sad how addiction affects everyone.

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Fizbin,

Thanx for your reply.

Yes, I’ve done the same Security changes; Locks, Code change, Cameras but perhaps the most

effective was notifying the SlimeBall that I now

Know he did the thefts & I looked forward to

shooting IT at the next opportunity😡!

Hasn’t recurred since BUT we never know do we?

Take Care,

Les

LesB

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@Les4 , stay vigilant, it could be months or even years until he/they remember all the stuff you have that they need. It could even just be second hand. The nephew tells someone who tells someone what you have and THEY come.

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Many say they are willing to give their life for their Country and or beliefs.

I say make the other SOB give their lives for theirs!

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General George S. Patton." The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." :us:

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Mike,I could not report a stolen firearm,on account most are made with 80% lowers or uppers,so no serial numbers,also I never lock my firearms,it is the idea when split seconds count then if locked up I will probably loose the fight.I wear my carry as long as I am up and when I am laying down it is usually in my hand on my chest,that is a habit I picked up in N Vietnam when on a mission,but the thumb safety is always engage with my thumb on it. My 3 kids and grandchildren never ever touch me when asleep,I do get aggressive so they all just open then door and talk to wake me up.

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Agreed, No Doubt, but I Do think that Most of

US 2nd Amendment "defendants😅"will pass on

When (I no longer believe “IF”) THEY come for Our

Guns, at least. I’m too Old to play WAR anymore.

I’ll just die, in place, at home with my "Arsenal":joy:

Shooting as much as THEY allow me time to do so.

Les

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General Patton and I concur.

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