Stupak opposes anything smacking of a federal registry of guns. He said Friday he has asked the General Accounting Office to investigate whether the federal government is illegally maintaining a master list of all gun owners, as the NRA suspects. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, joined Stupak's request. That's not the NRA view. It will put its considerable resources behind Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob of East Jordan, a campaign-savvy retired businessman recruited by Gov. John Engler for what is likely to be Stupak's toughest challenge.
Current law requires that such records be destroyed within six months.
If there is such a Big Brother database, it would bolster arguments of gun control opponents who fear that one day feds in black helicopters will swoop in and seize guns contrary to constitutional guarantees about bearing arms. Competing for the congressional seat being vacated by Stabenow is state Sen. Dianne Byrum, D-Onondaga, who like Stabenow hunts pheasants and other game. She and Stupak note that Michigan now requires background checks. Clinton would require handgun purchasers to get a state license proving they passed a background check and gun safety exam. I think they ought to do the same thing for handgun purchases.