So I’ve been wondering this for a while now. Why is it only sex offenders that have to register? I mean, if we’re going to destroy the right to privacy after someone’s paid for their crime in prison and are back in society, why don’t we do it across the board?
After all, wouldn’t you want to know if someone who Breaks and Enters homes, or knocks on the door and then punches the homeowner in the face at gunpoint, ties them up, and then steals everything of value in their house — wouldn’t you want to know if someone who did THAT lives next door to you? I mean, maybe they’re watching your every move to know when to strike with a ski mask on, and then smile in your face the next day after you have been robbed. But really, shouldn’t they be on a National Registry so that when they run, they can’t hide? Just like those dangerous sex offenders, right? Or are they more dangerous?
Or what about those men and women who have dealt drugs to kids. Are they dangerous enough to be on a Drug Dealer to Kids Registry? Do you want them living next door unbeknownst to you, and every day they might be trying to sell a joint or fentanyl to your 10-year-old? But at least you know they’re not sex offenders, right?
Ok, you get the point. And dangerous crimes are far more numerous than the two exampled above. But while we’re at it, let’s explore some other aspects of Registration laws. SO’s cannot live with 500 feet (1000 in some jurisdictions) of a school or daycare (in many states). So why do ex-felon bank robbers get to live within 500 feet of a bank? In Illinois, SO’s have to move if a residential daycare opens up within 500 feet of their residence (even if they’ve been there for several years — they have 30 days to get their asses gone). So, if you decide to get a safe in your home to keep your own money (be your own bank in essence), shouldn’t bankrobbers have to move away from you within 30 days?
And drug dealers — especially those who dealt to kids — should also be banned from parks, bike paths, museums, schools, state parks (so they can’t hide the bodies), zoos, and playgrounds, and anywhere where children or drug addicts congregate. Right? That’s how we save the vulnerable from those sexual creeps, so why aren’t we doing the same thing to every other dangerous felon?
Makes sense to me. But oh, wait… We are adding registries for certain groups of miscreants. Some states now have the Murderer of Children Registry, the Animal Abuser Registry, the Bad Babysitter Registry, the Bad Cop Registry! Isn’t that wonderful? But we need more, don’t we? After all, we need to be safe from all the bad people.
And just like Nazi Germany did with the Jews, maybe we need a Registry for a certain nationality of people who are mostly dangerous too. Oh wait, we already do have that — it’s just not a public registry yet. It’s called the Firearm Registry for whomever owns a firearm legally (of course, all of the illegal owners out there aren’t on that registry, you know, the gangbangers and such…). Oh, and in 1938 Hitler did make a firearm registry for all those undesirables out there he’d later ban from owning guns outright (except, of course, his master race — their gun ownership rights were expanded). Look it up! The Nazis are the ones who thought up this whole Registry scheme in the first place. Don’t we want to be more like the Nazis?
That’s the way we’re headed, folks. Erode the rights of one undesirable group, and you set a precedent to take away the rights of everyone. What a slippery slope the Registry is turning out to be. And don’t even get me started on the COST of implementing and maintaining one accurate Registry — or five or ten! Of course, you might like high taxes, but I don’t. I’d rather have extra cash to spend on my family’s well being and happiness.
The point is: we should have a Registry for every single felon out there, doxxing his/her name and where they live and their phone number, where they work and even where they vacation. We should treat everyone the same who are similarly situated (oh wait, that’s called Equal Protection of the laws, and it’s Constitutional…). So Registries for every felon (oh yeah, and bad cops and bad babysitters too, right?).
Or, we can repeal all the registries for everyone and let them live their lives in peace. With this comes personal responsibility, however. Instead relying on the state to “protect” us with a very dubious “compelling state interest” to overstep their Constitutionally enumerated powers, we protect ourselves. We ensure we are aware of where our children are. We ensure we are aware of who are neighbors are — I mean, be friendly, and get to know them a little. We ensure we educate our families on the dangers of the world. And we ensure we have the means to protect our families from those dangers in our own homes.
