posted July 21, 2000 08:14 AM
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=327
How Will They Confiscate Your Guns?
by John A. Sutter
in California
For decades I have heard gun owners claim that the government would
never be able to confiscate our firearms because the government would
lose too many men. The implication being, of course, that gun owners
would actively resist confiscation, even to the point of shooting back. But
I believe this thinking is outdated and doesn’t align very well with reality.
But before you tell me how big your honor guard in Hell will be when that
day comes, let’s think about how the government could really do it.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, the government bans all civilian
possession of firearms at the end of this month. Congress passes a total
ban and the President cuts his own re-election throat by signing it. Gun
owners get some grace period to turn them in, even beyond the deadline,
without being charged with a crime. If we use Australia and Britain as
examples there will still be a significant number of firearms that are not
turned in. Some estimates put the Australian turn-in at less than 25%
and the British faired only about 28%. But Australians and the British
have long been used to obeying almost every gun control law. Not so the
Americans. When laws are passed that we don’t like, we bite. We scratch.
We vote. So here we sit after the guns have been collected and the
amnesties have run out. Now what? Send out the personnel carriers, swat
and shock troops to seize the guns from those militia “terrorists” who
refused to turn them in? Don’t be silly.
The government has lots of records about you. If you purchased a firearm
since 1968, chances are that they have some record of it somewhere.
Most likely, it will take quite some time for them to compile all the serial
numbers of “surrendered” guns (surrendered essentially at gunpoint) and
cross off the ones you turned in. It’ll take more time for them to attempt
to “clean up” their data. Say, about two years, maybe three. Add to that
the hordes of people keypunching in hundreds of thousands of sales and
registration records from hundreds of gun stores forced out of business.
At some point the government decides they have something approaching
a “good” database of unaccounted-for guns.
The next thing you’ll get from the government is an official looking notice
that they think you still have a firearm. Their information will probably
include all the information from registration forms, right down to the serial
number. That notice will tell you that you’re in violation of the law, subject
to prosecution and imprisonment. It will give you some period of time to
surrender the gun. It will also give you a very limited number of days to
return the form with an explanation of why you don’t have the gun, any
proof you have, and your signature that the gun was lawfully disposed of.
For many people the idea that the government “knows” they didn’t turn in
that pistol or rifle and they have the detailed information about it will be
enough to get them to surrender the gun. Some people will ignore the
letter, others will scrawl a note that “I sold this in 1982 in a private sale”.
After some time, the government will figure out how many guns are still
out there and what the “compliance rate” is with the gun ban. More
importantly, they’ll start sorting their database by the number of guns
someone supposedly has “unaccounted”.
If you think they’ll come at these multiple-gun owners with a swat team,
guess again. Their most likely tactic will be yet another letter (maybe two
more) that generate what they’ll call “insufficient responses”. That means
they can’t track a gun after you owned it. This they’ll use as fodder for a
search warrant and/or perjury charges at a later date if they can. My
guess is that the time between April and August will be a bad time for a
lot of “former” gun owners. Remember that the BATF is an arm of the
Treasury department and they control the IRS. You’ll probably get a
notice in the mail that the IRS has some questions about your taxes or
wants to audit you. When you make the appointment to visit the IRS they
will pass that information to the BATF. While you are sweating over your
deductions, the BATF and local police will execute a search warrant and
search your home looking for guns. With you safely off site and
distracted, essentially forced into “the royal presence” of the IRS they will
snag your guns. Expect them to use slow-scan and ground penetrating
radar to search walls, yards, under the patio or deck, the basement, etc.
You might even find your hot tub has been drained and moved. Yes,
they’ll search your car in the IRS parking lot too.
If you are one of the those people they suspect of having multiple guns
and they don’t find any guns at your home, expect them to find and
search storage facilities, safety deposit boxes and other places you might
use. Warn your relatives who live nearby that they can expect a visit too,
even (or perhaps especially) if they never owned a gun. If they are
thorough, I’d expect the government agents to check your neighbors to
see which of them previously owned a gun and perhaps search their
homes, arguing that your neighbor could have held your guns while
agents searched your home. Remember that at this point the government
authorities don’t have much to fear from the general population. And by
the time your complaints are run through the mill, rejected and turned into
lawsuits, they’ll have changed the rules.
But you only have one gun you say? Fine. They won’t come looking for it.
But they will make sure that possession of ammunition is also a serious
crime. Don’t leave any loose cartridges around and where will you hide
that case of ammo you rushed out to buy? Expect any “gun parts” to be
made illegal at some point in time too. Spare magazines, maybe even
old cleaning kits. Anything that says “gun” will be interpreted as “probable
cause” to search your entire home. Also expect that you can never use
that gun without becoming a serious felon in the eyes of the government.
Even if some thug has repeatedly stabbed you with a large knife and
threatened to rape your six year old daughter, they won’t forgive you for
having the gun. They may even give you extra penalties for using it to
save your family. Especially if you are one of the first few hundred people
caught this way, they will use you to “set an example”. This will cause
people to “bury” their guns away in hiding places, making them all but
useless. If the government does come to confiscate it, you won’t be able
to get to it fast enough and they will probably find it.
You’ve moved several times since you bought a gun? Remember showing
your ID when you bought a gun? Remember writing down your place of
birth? Why do you think the government has so many computers?
Linking you to your new driver’s license in another state shouldn’t be too
hard. Besides, the Treasury folks know where you work. Think you’re safe
because you had unregistered guns? Think again. I would expect that the
government’s database will contain a lot of old data. Some of it might
indicate that a gun was sold to a resident at your address. If they can tie
you to ammo sales or range use with your credit card in the previous 2
years you might get a surprise visit. Or that seller might have
remembered you bought that gun from him and filled out his gun notice
to get “off the hook” for that gun.
The point of this article is that by thinking in limited terms of a “raid” to
confiscate guns we lose sight of the alternative methods the government
can use. Put yourself in the government’s position and think of your own
methods to avoid a conflict. Meanwhile, let’s ensure that every gun owner
votes for gun rights this year and the next. You can think of a thousand
excuses not to vote, not to help a campaign, not to help another gun
owner register to vote. I can think of one important reason to do all of
those.
Liberty!
