Gun registration leads to confiscation. I’ve said it before and I’m damn sure not the first, either. Even if the officials calling for registration aren’t interested in confiscation, eventually someone will figure out that those records can be used to take guns from law-abiding citizens. If not now, then at some point in the future.

However, there are other problems with registries. While politicians can reassure both the electorate and themselves that no such confiscation is over the horizon, they can’t promise no one else might be interested in the information.

A gun owners’ group says it fears a planned firearms registry will be a “juicy target” for criminals after multiple recent Government data breaches.

But the Police Association said the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) was scaremongering, and predictions of rampant firearm owner civil disobedience were ridiculous.

Some firearm owners were probably already hiding guns, fearing the register would endanger their loved ones, COLFO said on Monday.

The register was among the second wave of proposed gun law reforms initiated after the March 15 Christchurch mosque shootings.

COLFO cited concerns after multiple data bungles and breaches in the health sector, Treasury, and Commerce Commission.

And, of course, our own data is less than secure as well. The OPM data breach is probably one of the better known examples of the United States government not being able to prevent hacking of sensitive personal information.

The truth of the matter is that hacking is like any other kind of intrusion, it’s just a matter of time. While burglars are exposed while trying to break into a home, hackers are safe and sound in their homes or offices while they try to crack encryption. It’s not a matter of if such a breach will occur, but a matter of when.

While there’s a lot of security that’s possible, the truth is that there’s no system accessible from outside that will ever be completely secure. That means COLFO’s concerns are completely valid.

Further, they’re a valid concern here regarding any registration attempts by any government at any level.

A registration is a list of where the guns are. There are those who aren’t the government that would be interested in taking those guns, and those are criminals.

We already know that most crooks get their guns on the black market. Black market suppliers knowing just where to go to get whatever their customers want would be huge for them. Putting all that information on a server where they can just pluck it out? Hell, you might as well just mail them a copy and save them the hassle.

Honestly, registration does no good for anyone. While it helps the police in the movies and on TV all the time, the truth is that most crimes are committed with stolen or otherwise illegally obtained guns that aren’t in the possession of the registered owner. All registries do is make it easier for someone, anyone, to know where the law-abiding gun owners are.

Don’t make it easy for the crooks.