I do a tad bit more than just moderate the forums (like a lot of us, mods), though I try to dedicate as much time as I can to the forum.
I could do that, but that would leave the section with a whole bunch of closed posts, basically telling people to use the search function, when more often then not they don't even know what's wrong.
Doesn't seem like the appropriate plan of action.

what i would do on my forums, kinda like i do here, is look to see if i can find the answer somewhere if i dont already know exactly where to look, and if i can find it with relative ease i tell them to search for it and lock the post, this keeps ppl from flaming them to go look, and it also sends a message to the new ppl to look b4 they post, if i cant find it then i leave it open and wait for some asshat to say something about searching, which never happens if it can be found, and then ask them how they found the info that the poster is looking for, which will either turn out with them telling you how easy they found it and thus can close the topic and send the message to the new ppl, or they fail to find it and the topic is still relevant, of course, thats what i do on my forums and it may not be that easy on these, but if you only moderate this section it should work fine.

You know me so well. What am I supposed to do with members that do not search the forums before asking questions?

Well, at least you've got the right attitude about reporting! Keep in mind that even thought no one can see them, insulting people you report is still no OK.