The Onion’s Tips For Passing Gun Control Legislation

[Orrex]

47. I like that.

Any crime committed with a stolen or unregistered firearm will carry a mandatory 20 year sentence in addition to sentencing for the crime itself.

I'm not sure why you would limit this to stolen or unregistered. I mean, if someone decides to rob a store, and they have a licensed gun, that's no worse than having an unregistered one. There is nobody on either side of the political fence that will object to this, and possession of a firearm while committing a crime carries enhanced penalties in most states.

Is possession of an unregistered firearm a 20-year sentence in itself? My intent it to create an incentive not to have an unregistered firearm, making that firearm "worse" than a registered one, with an additional penalty beyond that already imposed for possession of a firearm during a crime.

Of course, by crimes, I assume you mean drug crimes as well, like marijuana users who are busted at home and have a hunting rifle in a safe?

By "hunting rifle," I assume you mean a licensed and registered firearm purchased legally? Further, I stipulated "any crime committed with a stolen or unregistered firearm," and I don't believe that smoking pot overlaps with that unless they're using the rifle barrel as a bong. In short, unless the unregistered firearm is integral to the crime committed, I don't think it's relevant. The registered hunting rifle might be found in the safe while executing a subsequent search warrant, but that's still different from committing the crime of smoking pot with a stolen or unregistered firearm.

If we decide that #1 does not warrant a penalty (which it shouldn't), then maybe we should just enforce the existing penalty (multiple years of jail time) for felons who attempt to purchase guns and commit perjury on the form? In 2010, the last year for which I can easily google statistics, there were 34,000 people who were either convicted felons or facing felony indictments who committed perjury when filling out a form applying for a NICS check. The DoJ prosecuted exactly 44 of them.

Sounds good to me. Lock 'em up.