Registration Amnesty?

[X-Rap]

How many other Posts are doing this?




Fort Drum calls weapons amnesty, urges residents to come clean
By Paul Steven Ghiringhelli
Staff Writer
Adults who live on post and possess an unregistered weapon have until January to dig through their closets and comply with Fort Drum regulations.
Officials here are urging all Soldiers and Family Members who live on post to register their firearms, or surrender unregistered firearms, during a special weapons amnesty from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Jan. 19 at the Military Police Station.
The program is aimed at reducing the number of unaccounted-for guns on post by pardoning residents who thus far have not complied.
Soldiers and Family Members residing off post are not required to register weapons on Fort Drum, but they must abide by New York State gun registration laws. Post officials said Soldiers and Family Members off post should apply for state registration by contacting the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at 786-2711.
It’s the first time in at least 15 years that the amnesty initiative is offered on the installation, according to Chief Todd Julian, chief of law enforcement for Directorate of Emergency Services, which is sponsoring the Fort Drum Weapons Amnesty Days.
Julian said Fort Drum Regulation 190-6 requires all incoming residents to register their privately owned firearm, whether a handgun or a long gun, within 72 hours of arrival.
He said the fast-paced environment of an infantry division could explain noncompliance statuses of some.
“Deployments are really big here,” Julian said. “I think that’s probably the biggest problem, as far as why someone wouldn’t come into compliance with the regulation.”
Because gun laws in New York state are different and separate from the upcoming weapons amnesty on post, Julian said handguns and automatic weapons registered Tuesday or Jan. 19 will be impounded if owners don’t have a New York state permit. (State law does not require a permit for non-automatic long guns.)
“If it’s not registered in New York state, they’ll have to either leave the weapon with us or have one of the armorers from their unit come and sign for the weapon, until it’s (properly) registered with the state,” Julian said.
“We’ll give them the information that they need to get that done,” he added.
Although he acknowledged the initiative may not be 100 percent successful, Julian said the weapons amnesty is still worthwhile from a law enforcement perspective.
“We’re never going to know what we have, because there’s stuff out there that people don’t (want us to know),” he said. “But the more that we do know, it just gives us a little more control and knowledge of what’s out there, especially in the housing (areas) on the installation.”
He said his experience shows that owners of registered guns commit less crime than owners of unregistered guns. He added that crimes on post involving a firearm typically occur with an unregistered weapon.
The amnesty program does not exempt participating gun owners from legal action if they were party to a crime, or from violations of New York State Penal Law, applicable federal law or the Uniform Code of Military Justice concerning the trafficking, sale, use of the weapon, or possession off of the Fort Drum installation.
Soldiers not in compliance with Fort Drum weapons regulations could face punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Making it hard to register a gun is counter productive. If it is unreasonably hard, no one complies. If the gun is stolen, no one reports it. I can understand the desire to have guns on base registered but a permanent amnesty would actually work better to get guns registered. Oops, we're dealing with New York State, so I guess commonsense and reasonableness are off the table.

 

[kermit315]

It has nothing to do with NYS. Its a military thing. All bases that I have ever heard of require registration of weapons that are possessed on the base, and if you live in the barracks, they are to be stored in the armory or off base.

Its standard DOD policy as far as I know, and they are merely waiving the penalties to get people to follow the rules already in place.

I dont like their statistic about registered/unregistered gun owners committing crimes, but thats typical lib mentality IMO.

 

[X-Rap]

I guess my question was more to how or is this a nationwide attempt to get the loose guns under control on military posts or just a specific Ft. Drum effort.
I hope that having them take possession of handguns and post ban semi's the soldiers will be able to leave the state with them if they change post.
The state registration and lic. requirements for all handguns plus Hi-Cap and post ban bans could make it an expensive proposition to get their guns off post and home without breaking the law.

 

[kermit315]

Well, as far as I know, all DoD bases have the same policy, although it may be worded differently. I dont agree with it, but it is what it is.

Yeah, it can be expensive. I would hate to be stationed in NYS.

 

[X-Rap]

No kermit I understand the registration, my question is the amnesty part. Is this a DOD policy to give a chance to register without penalty nation wide?
So far as I know the amnesty is new policy as far as Ft. Drum is concerned.

 

[Big Russ]

NAS Jacksonville doesn't even allow firearms on base unless you're in an MA rating.

 

[Dokkalfar]

Yep, military restrictions are rather over-the-top methinks...

He said his experience shows that owners of registered guns commit less crime than owners of unregistered guns. He added that crimes on post involving a firearm typically occur with an unregistered weapon.

I would completely agree. How many criminals do you know who take the time to register their (possibly stolen) firearms?

 

[kermit315]

yeah, the amnesty thing is probably local to Ft. Drum.

 

[Autolycus]

Originally posted by Carl N. Brown:
Making it hard to register a gun is counter productive. If it is unreasonably hard, no one complies. If the gun is stolen, no one reports it. I can understand the desire to have guns on base registered but a permanent amnesty would actually work better to get guns registered. Oops, we're dealing with New York State, so I guess commonsense and reasonableness are off the table.

Please explain the desire to have guns registered.

 

[NavyLCDR]

No kermit I understand the registration, my question is the amnesty part. Is this a DOD policy to give a chance to register without penalty nation wide?
So far as I know the amnesty is new policy as far as Ft. Drum is concerned.

yeah, the amnesty thing is probably local to Ft. Drum.

It is simply an action taken by the base Commander. It was not mandated by any higher authority and is not DOD or Army-wide. However, I don't think that anyone, on a base anywhere would face punishment if they registered their guns late.

Where they would get into trouble is if the military found the unregistered firearms first, such as a traffic stop on base while going to the range and the unregistered guns were in the car, or something happens in the base housing unit such as a fire, medical emergency or a water or gas leak and the unregistered firearms are discovered.

However, the above is simply conjecture on my part and is not a written policy, at least on my base or any base I have been on.

My personal opinion is that the prohibition on weapons possession and the requirement for registration on base is a violation of the 2nd Amendment and is wrong, but I did comply when I lived on base.

 

[Fleetwood_Captain]

Just another example of the bureaucratic mess which is the US Military.

Imagine a job where you can legally use nuclear weapons, yet you have to register a Raven.

There's a joke about "military intelligence" in here somewhere...

 

[Art Eatman]

Enuf.