How would gun confiscation work?

[Guns and more]

I think the way it will happen is to put a "user fee" on every firearm. Let's say $5,000.
So if you have 10 guns, send in $50,000. You still have your rights, eh?
"Wither on the vine."

By the way, am I the only one who thinks the OP may be a government plant harvesting ideas?

 

[Sky]

Guns and More I doubt if they need any new ideas...it is all there but evidently the time is not ripe or the intent is not there.

 

[luigi]

I'm trying to figure out how the same government that can't manage hot chow and timely mail in the field is going to coordinate a nation wide gun grab w/ out anyone finding out beforehand

 

[Bubba613]

Go to the sporting goods store. From the files obtain forms 4473. These will contain descriptions of weapons, and lists of private ownership.

Uh, no.
I have a smal shop 4 years old and have 2 bankers boxes stuffed with 4473s. Of those about 90% of the information is obsolete. People have died. People have moved. And people have sold or traded those guns elsewhere.
Apply that to a busy shop that does 100 guns a month and has been in business 20 years and the return on any data mining will be minimal.

The whole thread is a fantasy. It isn't going to happen because to do so would require hiring about half the US population to enforce something on the other half.

 

[gbw]

Would be very easy to confiscate. In practice I think it's difficult and not likely, but doable. I've seen things just in the past 3 years I never thought I'd see.

No need to use complex registration records, nor high fees, nor to go looking for anyone's guns to confiscate, nor any other backdoor methods.

1. Repeal the 2nd Amendment. This would be the toughtest part. OR
1a. Get a supreme court that will reverse Heller and find no individual right in the 2nd A. Never forget it came within 1 vote of just that last time.

2. Federal law passes that makes posession of any firearm illegal by civilians, no exceptions.

(I don't agree with those who believe this unthinkable. You needn't imagine too hard to realize that #1 or #1a, and #2 could surely happen as a response to the wrong sorts of events - either criminal or political.)

3. Grant an amnesty period for turn-ins. This will get most of the guns. The issue just isn't worth making a scraficing stand for most people, even most gun owners.

4. Start confiscating the rest of the guns, and fining the owners, as cops come across them.

5. Over time, and not too much time, very nearly all guns will be gone.

Will that get every gun? Of course not, nothing ever will, some of us will always have somthing tucked away. But the supply will forever be shirnking, and in effect guns would never be used by civilians again. All will either be confiscated, turned in, or hidden.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

The easiest and most effective way would be to slowly restrict guns out of existence.

The hardest and most insane way would be to rip the mask off, and say to the population, "turn them in. OR ELSE."

They've been going the easy way for, oh say 80ish years now and they're still working on it. Slowly but surely. It also seems like they are putting the pieces in place just in case they suddenly want to go the hard way.

If they went the hard way... I have no idea who would be doing the "OR ELSE" part. Maybe FBI, ATF, CIA, or your local police would be ordered to do it. Maybe the military. Maybe the National Guard. Doesn't really matter. The fact is that a bunch of men with guns would be showing up demanding you turn over yours. There would be plenty of them who would call BS and refuse the order(most of the USMC comes to mind), but there would also be plenty who would do it gladly with smiles all around(ATF comes to mind).

There are a lot of crazy things that could be tried, but probably wouldn't. The only ABSOLUTE certainty is that the politicians themselves wouldn't show up at your door and demand your weapons. And no matter what you have to give up, they will still have their very own personal security who get to keep their guns. Those are the only givens.

 

[Kleanbore]

How?

How has it been done elsewhere?

How about criminalization of possession and amnesties?

 

[leadcounsel]

*Register - directly through FFLs, ATF, and local laws
*Register - indirectly with CCW permits
*Slowly eliminate categories of "nonsporting" guns. SBRs, Select fire, cosmetic characteristics, etc.
*Eliminate classes of people from ownership breaks the cycle of ownership. Ex-felons, misdemeanor domestic violence convictions (a BIG category), mentally incompetant (widely defined, to include PTSD), etc.
*Demonize certain guns and groups by negative press (the shooter had an "arsenal" of guns and ammo - which was really just two handguns and a few boxes of ammo)
*Heavy taxes on guns
*Restrict imports on guns and ammo
*Heavy taxes on ammo
*Banning lead ammo for the environment, which increases ammo cost
*Strict storage and transportation laws

Ultimately ownership is so burdensome that each generation less and less people own and shoot.

 

[Jonah71]

I may be mistaken, but something tells me the stolen gun reports around here would skyrocket. And I honestly believe that the Fed. Gov. would NOT get enthusiastic support or enforcement from local LEOs in this area.

 

[luigi]

have a smal shop 4 years old and have 2 bankers boxes stuffed with 4473s. Of those about 90% of the information is obsolete. People have died. People have moved. And people have sold or traded those guns elsewhere.

It was quote form a movie Rabbi

 

[Bubba613]

That's what passes for argument here? Movie quotes? Seriously?
People forget that the 2A was interpreted as an individual right only in the last 15 years. And regardless there was no confiscation, registration or anything else. Most state constitutions contain a right to keep and bear.
I think it is simply Rambo fantasy that produces these threads. It assumes that every politician will roll over and become comatose in the face of legislation to do something their constituents are violently opposed to. It assumes such a variety of things that could not possibly happen it might as well be a question about invading Martians.

 

[HOWARD J]

It can never happen??????

I remember--not long ago--our goverment passed a bill that 65/70% of the people were against.
They told ud they passed it so they could find out what was in it///////////////////

It can never happen?????

 

[X-Rap]

Bubba I would just say look at the last hundred years of history here on earth. My bet is that around the turn of the last century most of the countries in the world allowed some sort of free private gun ownership and many allowed FA military. How many countries allow that freedom today?
Many of those countries had their guns go away overnight some others took years. You are correct in your pointing out the Supreme Courts recent rulings but you are a little naive in thinking that balance can't change literally in the lack of a heartbeat.
All through history to my knowledge we in the US are the only country that claims the right as given from God so it kind of explains why we are the last to maintain the right but even then it has been diminished over the last hundred years mostly in the name of safety.
I guess my point in the end is that we are the last place on earth that is truly free, there is no other place to go.

 

[Sky]

Bubba613

Yes but there are those who feel if we are invaded by Martians then the response by the government would be to declare Martial law and take away their guns!

Katrina wasn't Martians but local English speaking (for the most part) bands who wanted what home/business owners had.

Is this thread fantasy? Probably...But some think to be aware of possibilities is an exercise that is best thought of before it becomes a reality.

NSA, DERNSA, and various sub governmental agencies run all kinds of simulations and are stored and dusted off for review when an event appears to be unfolding. Those are fun exercises and can become rather heated depending on what agency and reviewed by whom.

Just like THR...Some do not like any subject that goes against their perceived comfort zone.

Base ball bats and or a kitchen knife is not much of a defense against even a cheap 22lr pistol in a BGs hand with intent.

I like this kinda stuff because it makes me think of all kinds of possibilities that otherwise for me would go unnoticed or thought of.

 

[RedNeck99]

thayd have to shoot me before i give them my shotgun

 

[Frank Ettin]

Considering the question just from the mechanical perspective (which is what the OP asked, after all), it would take time and probably a multiplicity of approaches.

Perhaps criminalization and amnesties, as Kleanbore suggests. Or maybe making gun ownership increasingly burdensome, as leadcounsel suggests.

And I fundamentally agree with Sam:

....AND, as others have pointed out, the mood of the country and the political scene has been favorable for the last decade or so... The pendulum does swing both ways, of course, but we've made a lot of progress.

So it is "incrementalism" that we need to watch for. Get to the polls, make phone calls to legislators, attend rallies, whatever -- to actively fight the legislation that would swing the pendulum back against us. It isn't a guillotine falling in one chop we need to worry about. It is the sand trickling back and forth as the hourglass tips ever so slightly...

My real fear is that confiscation won't be necessary. Gun ownership will just fade away over time. We need to be making use of the opportunities offered to be good ambassadors for gun ownership and the shooting sports. We need to be bringing new people into safe, responsible gun ownership. Our best defense will be a large, thriving and responsible community of gun owners.

 

[Sam1911]

We need to be making use of the opportunities offered to be good ambassadors for gun ownership and the shooting sports. We need to be bringing new people into safe, responsible gun ownership. Our best defense will be a large, thriving and responsible community of gun owners.

And I'll point out (as I have in a variety of other threads) that we're doing this exact thing -- RIGHT NOW -- to a degree we've never been able to accomplish before.

Sure, hunting seems to be continuing to be falling off, but gun ownership and use isn't.

Ranges and club memberships are full to bursting. Many of the competition disciplines are growing in participation by leaps and bounds. Gun sales, ammo sales, carry permits issued, etc. are all way, WAY up (as I think we've all noticed). The shooting population -- once dominated by the 50+ set -- is younger and much more active. And much more connected/informed.

So, yes, there are scary things out there and scary folks who want to do those scary things. And yes, most of the REST of the world has given up, thrown in the towel, and sat down to cry about it. (Though Canada seems to be trying to kick open the coffin...) But when I look at the legislative situation and the activity and numbers of the shooting public -- I think we're in a much better situation than ever in my lifetime.

Yes, the pendulum swings. But it's swinging our way. I just hope and pray it keeps doing so for as long as possible and that we're able to stall it whenever it starts to swing back.

 

[Sky]

Sam1911 Ditto!

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

In complete agreement with you there Sam. Now THERE is the Sam we all know and love!!!! I wasn't trying to be insulting to you bud. Just seemed you were starting to fall into that naive form of thought that the Government was our friend and that we controlled it. You seemed to need a swift kick in the pants to get your mind back! Welcome back Sam!

 

[Bubba613]

It can never happen??????

I remember--not long ago--our goverment passed a bill that 65/70% of the people were against.
They told ud they passed it so they could find out what was in it///////////////////

It can never happen?????

You;re not honestly comparing a healthcare bill that enjoyed wide support (at least the concept enjoyed wide support) passed by the skin of its teeth to something that is bread and butter issue, would be a radical change in policy, would contradict both the US Constiution, Supreme Court decisions, state constitutions in many cases, and state laws and would require basically an army to enforce?
Yeah. That's it.

 

[Sgt.Saputo]

It wouldn't.

Gah, you beat me to it.

 

[788Ham]

Some of us think this is a fantasy thread, in some regards, possibly. I might mention, like others have, about a particular firearm in a thread, but haven't posted pics of them, others that do, jump right straddle of it! I for one, don't brag about my firearms outside my home, unless it would be to one trusted friend, so the "opposing side" doesn't really know what I have, nor how much ammo I have. I know others have stated to "give a neighbor a rifle, a handgun, a shotgun" for when the SHTF...... NAH, don't think so Leroy! I have these particular defensive instruments for my own use, the "Leftists" can fend for themselves! Gun turn-in won't be from this household I'm afraid, oh, it eventually will I guess, after all the ammo's expended, and they have to crawl over all of the spent brass to take them from me! THEN, they'll know how much ammo I had, "SOB, how did one man fire all of this stuff?"

 

[gbw]

You;re not honestly comparing a healthcare bill that enjoyed wide support (at least the concept enjoyed wide support) passed by the skin of its teeth to something that is bread and butter issue, would be a radical change in policy, would contradict both the US Constiution, Supreme Court decisions, state constitutions in many cases, and state laws and would require basically an army to enforce?
Yeah. That's it.

Why not? Actually it would require almost nothing added to enforce, time would do it.

Remember that Heller won by 1 vote. If the current administration had been able to replace Scalia, for example, there would be no federal 2nd A. constitutional right.

It's true the trends are in our favor for now. Still, that 'wide support' is, I'd speculate, at best luke warm for the vast majority who support guns and gun rights when they bother to think about them at all.

And trends are fickle, never to be trusted. Anyone not comatose who has lived through all of the international, financial, and political wreckages of the past 3 years and still holds that there is anything that can't happen is delusional.

Gun turn-in won't be from this household I'm afraid, oh, it eventually will I guess, after all the ammo's expended, and they have to crawl over all of the spent brass to take them from me! THEN, they'll know how much ammo I had, "SOB, how did one man fire all of this stuff?"

See a lot of this sort of chest-beating. Just speculating again, my bet is that if push ever comes to shove, very very very few will be willing to give up life, their family, or much else at all, just to keep their guns.

 

[Guns and more]

thayd have to shoot me before i give them my shotgun

They would do exactly that. Then move on to the next house.

 

[Erik M]

I always assumed that they would employ local law enforcement to go door to door since they would be the authority most familiar with the area. They would be backed up by activated national guard troops. Hurricane Katrina anyone? Its been done before.

I believe it was one of the admiralty of the WWII Japanese fleet that said that they would never invade U.S. soil because there would be a gun behind every blade of grass. The manpower and resources that it would take to disarm the American public would weaken the nation as a whole on the world stage. Not to get all Dr. Strangelove but as soon as all of the citizens were left defenseless is when Russia would drop the bomb.

They would do exactly that. Then move on to the next house.

I've pondered many times about how willing the military/police would be to take a life to confiscate a weapon on the whim of a leftist politician.