Have you ever found yourself wondering just how many guns you have laying around your house without any idea that they are there? And of the piles of guns you push through in your living room each day, are you worried that some of them might be illegal? Well, if you live in Beloit, Wisconsin, fear not, citizens. You can call up the local police at the invitation of the chief and ask for them to come conduct a search of your house for weapons.

Communities have a responsibility to curb crime, says Beloit Police Chief Norm Jacobs.

One of those responsibilities is for residents to make sure legally owned weapons are safely stored, Jacobs said.

And he adds the Beloit Police Department is offering to inspect homes for those who believe there could be illegal firearms in the residence.

Written consent would need to be given from a person who has charge of the home in order for police to search the residence, Jacobs said.

While Jacobs doesn’t believe there will be a flood of calls to the department seeking a search, he does hope it will raise awareness that a community can help prevent crime.

This story was brought to my attention by Jenn Jacques, writing at Guns and Curves, who can seriously relate to this problem.

With all that yummy goodness waiting at the end of a voluntary search, who wouldn’t call up the Beloit police and sign up for a search of their very own? Can you just imagine the poor 86 year old woman, so scared of guns and gun violence that she hastily contacts the police to search her home in the off chance a criminal has placed a weapon used in an act of violence under her mattress?! THE HORROR!

I know myself, I’m always finding guns in my house when I’m cleaning. Like, “Another Glock? Where’d this come from?!” It’s scary stuff, guys – the threat is *real. I have kids in the home and they’re always finding these random guns in the laundry and under the kitchen sink, even learning how to alter their toy guns to become weapons!

“That’s really what we’re looking for,” says the insightful Beloit Police Chief. “Maybe we’ll find a toy gun that’s been altered by a youngster in the house — and we know the tragedies that can occur there on occasion.”

How plausible does this sound? A citizen of Beloit, WI is so afraid of guns and has no control over their own home in need of police to search their residence for firearms and remove them promptly, with no consequences for the police finding them in possession of an illegal firearm, I’m sure. (snark)

All kidding aside, I can relate to what the police chief is going through to a certain extent. It sounds like Beloit is joining many other municipalities in seeing an uptick in violence and crime. The chief wants to do something about it and is hoping to work with concerned, law abiding citizens as part of the effort to improve things. Up to that point, we can probably all be on the same page. And one of his first instincts it to get illegal guns off the streets, as in those currently in the possession of criminals. I think the vast majority of us are on board with that as well.

But the tone deaf nature of this request and the proposed way to implement it isn’t going to win him many friends amongst the law abiding gun owners in his community. I suppose it’s conceivable that there are a couple of homes out there where grandpa’s world war II era revolver is collecting dust in a box in the attic, but even if that’s the case then it’s unlikely to suddenly be found now. As for any guns in residences which are there with the knowledge of the owner, they are either legally owned or they are in the possession of criminals living there. Neither are very likely to pick up the phone and call the chief requesting a search of their domicile.