A Collegian editorial ("Gun owner database necessary for safety," April 30) stated: "Responsible gun owners understand they have no reason to worry about the government knowing about their firearms."

I will wager my next paycheck that whomever wrote this does not own a single gun, because it is clear he or she hasn't the vaguest idea what ambitious governments and gun owners equally understand -- some form of registration is a necessary and indispensable first step toward eventual confiscation. A historical observation would be an improvement on obvious and wishful conjecture: "Good governments have nothing to fear about not knowing which taxpayers have guns."