Lizzie,

It isn't hyperbole. The default state is liberty. The burden is on those who -support- registries (of any kind), which unarguably consume public monies, take up valuable and limited law enforcement resources and time, and put the personal information of innocent people at risk of exposure or misuse (which sets aside arguments over the infringements on the peaceable exercise of fundamental rights uniformly involved), to produce evidence to support their claims about the countervailing benefits of such registries.

Certainly Bloomberg et al would be trotting out such evidence if it existed. Fact is, Maryland eliminated its ballistic registry as a waste of time and money, Canada repealed its long gun registry as a waste of time and money (and the RCMP confirmed the handgun registry hadn't proven a useful law enforcement tool). There's no evidence from the UK or AUS of any public safety effect (except enabling confiscation, if that is an admitted goal). Registries just don't work.