Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

letter to the editor:

Not all vehicles must be registered

In the Sunday letter “Will NRA back this plan?” the writer tried to draw an analogy between automobiles and firearms. He wrote: “Auto owners must register their autos when purchased and relicense and pay taxes every year. A person must be at least 16, in most if not all states, and have a license to operate the auto.” He concluded that firearms should have similar registration and licensing conditions.

Both of his statements about registration and licensing are incorrect. No dealer makes you register your car when you buy it. I know several people who have cars that are not licensed, registered or taxed. They are towed to the track or the car show and they are never on public streets. There must be hundreds of farm and ranch trucks all over Nevada that never go on public streets and are not registered. Many of these ranch trucks are also driven by young people, 10 to 15 years old, who do not have a license.

So to be clear, there is no need to have a vehicle registered or be licensed to operate it if you do not take it out on public streets. Thus, the proper analogy to firearms would be: Anyone can buy a gun and keep it at home or on private property. Only if you wish to carry it in public would you need to register it and be licensed.

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