I wrote the list because I have lived through it. I know now what I would've done differently in 1999 (my state's last year of relative freedom), and so I'm trying to share a little bit.
As I noted in my OP, we should FIRST do everything we can to prevent such a climate change from occuring. On this board and others, we (and by we I mean my family, my associates, and my fellow CG members) have raised thousands of dollars to fight spurious firearms violation charges (and won); we have gone table to table, bench to bench at ranges passing out flyers and asking people to vote or sign petitions; we have offered free shooting events for first time shooters. And, as an educator myself, I am outspoken in adamantly challenging student's preconceptions of firearms as well as the dogma perpetuated by the state.
On Thursday, a young female teacher in my department spoke to me about how she was excited by the responses she got from her students when she showed them PETA videos of the meat industry. I listened to her unit plan, and then asked her if she had an conflicting viewpoint component. She replied that she felt the video already did a good job of demonstrating such counterarguments. We had a half hour conversation after that, resulting in my coming in the next day and helping her develop a adverserial component within her classroom, one which would argue in favor of hunting as a alternative to mass farming of animals.
So, we do try our best to provoke change.
But the possibility still stands that we may not carry the day, and that the AWB will be resurrected. Mit Romney, whom many find acceptable, is running on a Republican ticket - and is the same governor who espoused well over a decade of essentially anti-gun rhetoric. But I digress - this thread is not meant to debate political possibilities. There are enough threads doing that already. So allow me to address some of the comments replied.
1. What if they do away with the grandfather clause? - Well, that will be an outright ban, then - in the same way California banned Shuriken (ninja stars) as assault weapons. No registration period was offered, IIRC. Simple possession is now a felony. In the past of course, many peoples responded to government seizures by simply burying their possessions - when the British began the process of disarming the colonists, for instance, arms and ammunition were cached and hidden away. It was impossible for the British to ransack every shack and barn in the entire Territory, and I imagine that any attempt to physically seize perceived AWs will be met with even more logistical difficulties. While we do have a duty to obey any laws presented to us, the sheer enormity of such a task would make an outright ban extremely unlikely. To this day, I often see shooters with unregistered AWs at ranges - and many do not even know that they are de facto felons.
* What if I don't have $5000?- Then tailor your collection to your abilities, but be aware that even if the monetary value of pre-legislation firearms does not increase, the actual effective value of such items may be essentially priceless. A registered Assault Weapon - say, for instance, a Bushmaster XM15 or EAI STG58 FAL - cannot be sold in the state of CA. And, outside of CA, its value is only $200-300 higher than what it sold for ten years ago. However, it is unlikely that an owner of a registered AW in CA will agree to sell you his gun, even if you offered him three times what he paid for it. There is a word for such material - Unobtainium. Buy what you can afford. First receivers, then parts kits, then magazines, and so on. You grandchildren may one day thank you for your decision to buy a set of receivers that back in the day cost "only" $100 each. Indeed, some on this board might remember what NFA guns cost before 1986, and 1964. Today each is a down payment on a house.
* Dealers love it when guns are about to be banned.- Sure they do. But the markup on new guns isn't much - not nearly as much as a new member of the shooting sports is worth. Just as Dstorm urged everyone to buy surplus ammunition last year, I urge everyone to buy a receiver or two, a set of magazines, perhaps a parts kit. Do you remember Yugoslavian 8mm? It was dirt cheap - selling for about $64 a case of 900. Today that case is worth about $250. Tell me, what part of your portfolio went up nearly 500% in two years?
* Why buy EBRs or MBRs? Why not just stock up on $50 Mosin-Nagants and $75 Hi-Points?
- Because EBRs and MBRs are superior defensive firearms. I have an 03 FFL and my bank knows it. But the truth is, low-grade and obsolete weaponry is not a true substitute for high-grade weapons. My M59 is quite accurate, and I have no doubt that I could defend myself with it ably if I had to. But it is undoubtedly inferior to my FAL rifles, or even my $150 SAIGAs. If I were given the opportunity to choose, I would not choose my SKS over my other firearms. Its lack of a detachable magazine, it's inability to mount optics well, and its weight makes it less desirable. Further, EBRs and MBRs are much likelier to be targeted as "dangerous weapons" and "public nuisances".
Ironically, however, the Hi-Point C9 is also likely to be banned - as a "junk gun" or "saturday night special". Remember that term? Get ready to see it bandied about again.
One more thing. If it's cheap guns you want, then I have better suggestions than M59/66 SKS rifles or Hi-Point handguns.
* CZ 82/83
* M59 SKS (not the GL model)
* FEG PA63
* SIG P6
* Walther P1
* CZ 52 (and ammo is still cheap for these guns)
* Finn M39
* M38 Mosin-Nagant
* SAIGA x39 or 5.56
* Romanian AK
. But I digress.
. I suppose one might grab their registered assault shovel or hoe, but it wouldn't be my first choice 
