AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

Anti-gunners are working to create registrations and licensing schemes throughout this country. While a federal registration is unlikely any time soon, they are happening at the state level. Worse than that, the numbers may be slowly creeping up.

However, opponents of registration note that the only thing such laws are good for is gun confiscation. You can’t take up guns from law-abiding folks if you don’t know where they are, now can you?

Anti-gun voices tend to call that paranoia.

Based on what we hear out of New Zealand, though, it sounds more like precognition.

Chris Cahill, with the country’s Police Association, said it’s not clear if this year’s budgeted funding for the buy-back would be adequate because New Zealand (like America) does not have an official gun registry.

“We really have no idea how many of these firearms are out there in New Zealand,” Cahill told the Herald. “Which really points to how bad our firearms legislation has been, that we have let this get out of control.”

Letting citizens own the means to defend themselves without government control and permission via licensure and registration? How awful.

Now you know just how precious the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution really is, as well as how unique of a governing document our founders bequeathed us. We are, and remain, the only country that officially recognizes firearms ownership as an inalienable right not to be controlled (or taken away) by tyrannical government.

In any event, as NewsTarget reported earlier this month, only a few hundred guns had been turned into police at that time. According to authorities, just 530 or so rifles had been turned in out of about 250,000 licensed firearms holders who own as many as 300,000 now-illegal guns.

First, allow me to tell those New Zealanders holding onto their guns, good on you. I wouldn’t be giving mine up either.

Second, let’s note that Cahill explicitly notes that the police are going to have difficulties because police don’t know how many are out there, what he calls letting it “get out of control.” He is saying that registration would make it so much easier to round up the guns.

And, to be fair, he’s probably right. Registration would help, but only to a point.

The only people who would have registered firearms would be those who don’t represent a risk anyway. The criminal element–the people who are an issue in New Zealand–wouldn’t listen. They’ve never listened. It’s not what they d, kind of like how they aren’t giving up their AR-15s and similar rifles.

While Americans are talking about registering guns like it’s some answer, let’s all remember the real reason many of them want it. They believe they’ll eventually get the guns and they want a list of which doors to kick in first. That’s what it all boils down to.

No, not every registration proponent is thinking that. Some are just stupid enough to believe it’ll somehow stop bad people from doing bad things, but far too many do.

Hard. Pass.

If somehow the American government wants to take away our guns, I see no reason to make it easy on them at all.