from http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/sep00/pew-edit092300.asp
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Pewaukee police asked too much
From the Journal Sentinel
Last Updated: Sept. 24, 2000
Gun registration probably wasn't what the Village of Pewaukee Police Department had in mind when it asked for the names and addresses of people asking for gun locks. But asking wasn't a real bright thing to do, either.
Gun owners already feel they're under siege. Every time there's a shooting, there are new calls for more restrictions on firearms. Every time someone misuses a weapon, all people with weapons - from handguns to hunting rifles to target pistols - seem to come under suspicion.
Most gun owners are Field and Stream types, who love the outdoors and all of its recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, they are too often demonized as Soldier of Fortune types.
So it's not surprising if some felt a little paranoid or suspicious when police started asking for names and addresses of gun owners. One village trustee in Pewaukee said the questions "sounded a lot like gun registration."
Police say that wasn't their intent. The department and other law enforcement agencies in Waukesha County are giving away cable gun locks as part of a nationwide program sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
The village was allocated 300 locks. Police say they wanted to make sure that all those interested got one lock before anyone got two. They asked for names and addresses of those who wanted two or more so that officers could get the locks to them later.
That's a reasonable thing to do in most circumstances, and there is no evidence that police had any other intent. But given all the hot-button issues that surround firearms, it would have been far more sensible for the police to have asked people who wanted more locks to return later.
And just in case paranoia was close to reality, police should be reminded that if people want gun registration, they will enact it. They don't need law enforcement to try and do it for them behind their backs.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 24, 2000.
[/quote]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Pewaukee police asked too much
From the Journal Sentinel
Last Updated: Sept. 24, 2000
Gun registration probably wasn't what the Village of Pewaukee Police Department had in mind when it asked for the names and addresses of people asking for gun locks. But asking wasn't a real bright thing to do, either.
Gun owners already feel they're under siege. Every time there's a shooting, there are new calls for more restrictions on firearms. Every time someone misuses a weapon, all people with weapons - from handguns to hunting rifles to target pistols - seem to come under suspicion.
Most gun owners are Field and Stream types, who love the outdoors and all of its recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, they are too often demonized as Soldier of Fortune types.
So it's not surprising if some felt a little paranoid or suspicious when police started asking for names and addresses of gun owners. One village trustee in Pewaukee said the questions "sounded a lot like gun registration."
Police say that wasn't their intent. The department and other law enforcement agencies in Waukesha County are giving away cable gun locks as part of a nationwide program sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
The village was allocated 300 locks. Police say they wanted to make sure that all those interested got one lock before anyone got two. They asked for names and addresses of those who wanted two or more so that officers could get the locks to them later.
That's a reasonable thing to do in most circumstances, and there is no evidence that police had any other intent. But given all the hot-button issues that surround firearms, it would have been far more sensible for the police to have asked people who wanted more locks to return later.
And just in case paranoia was close to reality, police should be reminded that if people want gun registration, they will enact it. They don't need law enforcement to try and do it for them behind their backs.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 24, 2000.
[/quote]