Weapon RFID System Bill â Mandatory Tracking Of Kentuckyâs Gun Owners
In a controversial move today, Kentucky law makers slipped a bill through the senate making the installation of a tracking device or âWeapon RFID Systemâ in firearms mandatory by state law. The programâs preliminary launch will be in Clark County, Kentucky, specifically in the city of Winchester. Winchester is probably best known for spawning the late Helen Thomas and their 1998 contribution to the Guinness Book Of World Records for most underage tobacco users per capita in the United States. Nestled in the eastern portion of the blue state, the city of Winchester also is home to several academies of higher learning and is thought to be more intelligent and liberal than the rest of the state. Kentucky itself boasts one of the highest gun ownership rates in the country. Officials say they hope the bill will catch on so they can push to have it implemented nationwide. The legislature seems to be inspired by Chicago Official, Alderman Willie Cochran, who approached his own cityâs Committee On Public Safety back in January of this year with a similar idea. Cochran proposed it would be: âJust like if your car gets stolen, OnStar can tell you where your car is. If your gun gets stolen, and you report it, we should be able to find that gun.â By the beginning of next year it will be mandatory that all registered firearms within the state of Kentucky be implanted with a Weapon RFID System. Those who are found to be non-compliant by the deadline will face steep fines, jail time or even the loss of the firearm. Gun owners will be required to show up at a predesignated location where theyâll pay a small fee and hand over their firearms to be implanted. Any weapon that is still active must be have the Weapon RFID System installed. So this also means some antique or specialty guns will need to be looked over as well. This program ensures that communities are kept safer when incidents of gun violence occur. By being able to track weapons used in violent crimes the perpetrators are apprehended quicker sparing further casualties. It will also enable law enforcement to locate stolen firearms by using the Weapon RFID System. Lawmakers feel it is a acceptable compromise to install the chips rather than permanently confiscate every gun in the state as they have in countries such as Australia, Canada and the UK. The lack of gun ownership surely hasnât negatively affected our neighbors from âdown underâ or any country with strict firearm laws. After all the horrible gun violence in our nation this journalist agrees that it is high time to start searching for viable solutions.