Thoughts concerning Registration

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Bartholomew Roberts

Moderator
Recently, I was discussing registration with a fellow gun owner (rolltr). He was describing to me a group of Canadian gun owners who have announced that they will not register their guns. As an act of civil disobedience, all 16,000 have agreed to turn themselves in at the same time if registration becomes law.

I think that these fellows have hit on a pretty good idea. If the U.S. used the same tactics of civil disobedience we would bring the Justice system to a grinding halt. Assuming roughly 65 million gun owners (using the lower estimates), if we could get the same percentage as the Canadian's (the 16,000 represents about 0.5% of all Candian gun owners), that would equal 325,000 gun owners.

Currently the American justice system contains a little over a million prisoners. Widespread civil disobedience within a short timeframe would flood the justice system, increase cases by almost a third, and most likely cause the system to break down under the strain.

What do you all think of implementing this idea to resist any attempt at centralized registration in the United States?
 
It sounds like something we may have to consider. But keep in mind the gap between what people will say and actually do is as wide as the Grand Canyon.
 
I see very little use in turning self in...trying to defeat the enemy by overwhelming them with prisoners is hard on the POWs. Besides, governments adapt and USSR had no trouble keeping 15mil behind wire and shooting a few now and then to make space for new arrivals.

Now, disobedience involving doing damage would be more effective. It might not deter further infringements but it might cause the enemy to run out of warm bodies to walk the point.

Of course, being a quiet and obedient tax payer, I wouldn't endorse such behavior or know anything about it but I thought I heard something about people who might not be quite as loyal and harmless as I. Darn desperados, all...and they look just like normal people, too.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Oleg Volk:
I see very little use in turning self in...trying to defeat the enemy by overwhelming them with prisoners is hard on the POWs. Besides, governments adapt and USSR had no trouble keeping 15mil behind wire and shooting a few now and then to make space for new arrivals.

Now, disobedience involving doing damage would be more effective. It might not deter further infringements but it might cause the enemy to run out of warm bodies to walk the point. [/quote]


I think history shows that non-violent protest can be very effective (Gandhi and the civil rights movement for example). At the same time, I think people have a lot more sympathy for an ordinary guy being crushed by a questionable law then they do for a self-styled Timothy McVeigh selecting targets for destruction.

The real danger in destructive acts to resist laws of the United States is that even if you are successful, the chaos and anarchy created are usually too much for anyone to overcome. It only takes a few people to start a cycle of violence; but it takes a lot of people working together to govern a country. Most countries undergoing a violent revolution devolve into cycles of factionalized violence and petty tyrants.

Historically, you can see examples of this with the Romans. Caesar wrongfully usurped the republic and made it an empire. Patriotic Romans assassinated Caesar and plunged the Roman Republic into a series of factionalized wars. It emerged as an empire dominated by a series of tyrants (some of worse nature than others).
 
Turn myself in? Hmmmm,nah!But I`ll tell you what.I`ll be happy to bake you a cake with a file in it! ;)

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~Gordon~
 
I would stand by you on this one... except my guns fell out of my boat while fishing on some river in the states. I don't know which one (river), because it went through many states. Since I don't have alot of money, I've decided not to buy any more. The ammo for them was destroyed in a fire where I had it stored away from any firearms that got lost in the river. All in all, I don't own any guns, ammo. USP45usp
 
I agree that (Lebanon being a good example) even salutory reasons for strating a mess tend to end up forgotten over time...and the landscape starts to look flat and pockmarked :( Then there's the Dachau variant.
 
Their mission is disarmament. When you turn yourself in, they will go get your guns - mission accomplished.
 
Have to say, I'm with Mr. Volk on this one. Peaceful demonstrators make for great martyrs.

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"Vote with a Bullet."
 
Bartholomew Roberts: I think it's worth remembering that Ghandi himself said that the only reason he settled on non-violent protest against the British was that they were relatively decent people who could be shamed into doing the right thing. And that it could never have worked against anyone genuinely evil. I'm not sure that's still true of the British, and it's certainly not true of the people ruling our country today!
 
Bart,
As I am 'rolltr' on the yahoo board. First name is Kevin if the helps you out.

I would like to address the quote below and 'Mr. Volk's' post above:

Despite what I think about our government's attempt to circumvent many Amendments, I think they are still responsive to people pressure. Our country is too prosperous and bad government too scattered to think that there would be a general uprising or or a public view that there is justification for it.

No, I agree with the quote below. Take me, 3 speeding tickets in my life - that's it, and 375,000 or more like me, and I think you'll see a huge change in attitudes. Not only will those 375,000 be affected - probably with arrest and release and hardly any charges (ps. only use one gun, 'loose' all the rest in a boating trip) and you have affected your family and your neighbors. If nothing else there is a shock to the public consience that something is wrong.

Fight it for all it's worth before hand.

If your not doing anything to build up those elected officials or help the pro 2nd folks to get elected, then we are allowing it to happen and we will be our own enemy.

Despite Gov Warren Burger types rounding up Japanese CITIZENS during WWII, I doubt you'll see any Dachua's or Interment camps for us - at that point I 'find' the rest of my firearms.

JMHO,
madison46 (rolltr on yahoo board)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brett Bellmore:
Bartholomew Roberts: I think it's worth remembering that Ghandi himself said that the only reason he settled on non-violent protest against the British was that they were relatively decent people who could be shamed into doing the right thing. And that it could never have worked against anyone genuinely evil. I'm not sure that's still true of the British, and it's certainly not true of the people ruling our country today![/quote]
 
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