Report: Cleveland’s new gun offender registry has zero takers in first month

What happens when an anti-gun rights mayor passes a new gun control law and no one complies?

That question has now been answered in the City of Cleveland.

According to WEWS, Cleveland's ABC affiliate, Tuesday December 2 marked a month since Cleveland's controversial gun registry program went active and, in 30 days, not one person has registered.

The law, which Mayor Frank Jackson claimed would help curb gun violence in his city, requires requires people convicted of a gun crime to go to the city's Justice Center and fill out a form that requires the following:

• Name, date of birth, sex
• Current home address
• Copy of driver’s license
• Current photo of said offender
• Description of gun offense
• Name, address, phone number of offender’s workplace
• Name, address, phone number of educational institution offender attends
• Any other information Safety Director finds reasonably necessary

While Cleveland's assistant director of public safety Tim Hennessy says he thinks criminals will come running to sign up once they find out about the requirement, at least one councilman says he isn't surprised the law is a failure:

"I would have been shocked if they came running to sign up," said councilman Jeff Johnson, who believes the registry will have limited impact on reducing gun crimes.

He added that authorities aren't knocking on doors to find who hasn't registered; it will likely be used as an add-on to someone who has committed another crime.

"It's more sizzle than fire," Johnson said. "The thought is that those who have committed gun crimes will commit gun crimes again and that's not necessarily the way to approach anti-violence legislation."

According to the report, those who fail to register within the required five days of conviction could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.