This article by Special Operations Veteran Paul Howe was originally published on the Wilson Combat Blog on January 3rd, 2013. If you wonder why I don’t get worked up over DHS buying all kinds of cool guy toys, it’s this…reality. They don’t have the guns or the numbers to threaten America’s liberty and that’s because America’s citizens are armed. The real threat isn’t a full frontal assault on our Constitutional rights, it’s the death by a thousand cuts that we suffer as Congress whittles away at them little by little. By wary of “reasonable” laws that amount to baby steps toward the total erosion of the Bill of Rights. Stay engaged. Be a trained, responsible gun owner and let your elected representation know how you feel, not only on this issue, but other Constitutional issues as well.
by
Paul Howe
I have quietly watched and evaluated the in pouring of e-mails reference the liberal’s intent to seize guns and crush the second amendment. I want to add a few of my own thoughts on this issue as I have worked in and around all the people who could be tasked to seize your guns.
WHO’S COMING TO GET THEM?
United Nations (UN)
We are the UN. Other countries mostly join the U.N. to secure money, funding and training and few have any offensive combat capability. Most serve as guards at static locations and have no will to fight. America is the enforcement arm of the U.N. We have the money, equipment, personnel and lift platforms to get the job done.
If the president ever let the U.N. in this country, it would be a foreign invasion and armed Americans would stand up and crush them in a day. Our government would break down and the president would be ousted for letting foreign militaries invade our country.
Federal Government Military
Having served over 20 years in our military, I know that most soldiers would refuse the order to take part in the confiscation of weapons. First, the president would have to give the order, which is an “Illegal Order” in violation of the constitution. I don’t believe that service members would go back into the communities that raised them and conduct raids on good Americans in violation of the constitution.
Remember, these forces would have to come from a military base that is surrounded and supported by American communities. Civilians would simply cease to support the bases and they would fold in a short time. Cut of the fuel, food, electricity on bases and this would stop the silliness. Also, many, many service members live in the communities and they would have to travel from their houses to base unless they were locked down. In that case, their families would still be in the community and people would not be too friendly to those supporting these actions.
Federal Government DHS or TSA
The Federal government is not large enough or talented enough to seize guns. If they were to do 5-8 raids a day seizing guns, they would be physically and mentally exhausted and need a break. Physically conducting raids is exhausting. After the first few raids, the word would get out and Americans would start to fight back. It would take one good ambush from a house or along a travel route to decimate a tactical force or make it combat ineffective.
Next, most Federal Agencies work out of a fixed location centrally located in a community. Also, their personnel live in those communities along with their families. Once the word got out that they were doing raids in violation to the constitution, they and their families would be at risk. If they were to start raiding houses, kicking in doors and breaking in windows looking for legally owned guns, their homes would be subject to the same treatment by Americans rising up to defend themselves. They would shortly find themselves without a place to live.
State Law Enforcement
The Governor would have to order State and Local Law Enforcement to either:
Seize guns
Ignore the Federal Orders
If they ignore the Federal Orders, things would be tense, but people would be civil. If they started to seize guns, they only have limited people and assets to do this. Much the same consequences would take place as with the Federal Government.
Local Law Enforcement
Local Police and Sheriff Departments are the backbone of who protects American Citizens. A Sheriff or Chief of Police would have to give the order for his people to begin to seize weapons. Their people would either comply or see it as an illegal order and refuse.
Remember, Chiefs and Sheriff’s also have to live and work in the same communities they serve. As I described with the Federal Government, local Tactical Teams could probably only do 8-10 hits in a day and then need a break. So they hit ten houses and seize their guns, the word would get out and now they are subject to living in the same community as those they are attacking. It would not go well. Also, after one or two determined Americans or combat vets fought back, the team would lose many to death or injury and they would have made a decision whether to continue to push the fight. Remember also, they have to sleep sometime. Their homes and families would be at risk. It is an ugly scenario at best.
Nation of Combat Veterans and Patriots
Having been at war for over 10 years, we have a nation of combat vets and contractors that have seen more action than many of our WWII vets. It has been said that only a small percentage of Americans stood up to the British War machine in the Revolutionary War. Americans are better armed and trained today than at any time in our nation’s history. Think about what would happen if just our nation’s veterans stood up. People have been buying more guns and ammunition in the past five years than any time in my life. The guns and ammunition are out there along with the talent to use them.
Kool-Aid Drinkers
Kool-Aid Drinkers is the term I use to describe the Jonestown voluntarily massacre where the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, a dedicated community western Guyana by the Peoples Temple led by cult leader Jim Jones intentionally drank poison Kool-Aid. Over 900 people died.
In every law enforcement, government and military agency or branch, there are a small number of Kool-Aid drinkers who would blindly follow orders. They would either be purged internally by their co-workers or people they attacked would stop their gene pool.
Also, at the police tactical team level, all members “volunteer” for the job and they can have the individual integrity to terminate their team service at any time if their profession becomes corrupt or misguided. I know many a good officer that has done that in the past.
Finally, there would be a certain number of American Kool-Aid drinkers that would turn in their weapons if asked. I believe it would be a small percentage as there are always those that do not have the will to resist or fight and they are not needed should thing get tough.
History of “Gun-Free Zones”
Our nation’s history is filled with examples of “gun-free” zones failed.
The Aurora Colorado movie massacre and the recent Connecticut shooting are two that come to mind. Also, remember the Fort Hood massacre where an Islamic extremist Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 soldiers because our military bases are gun free zones. Combat trained soldiers had to be rescued by a security guard. That is embarrassing.
Evil came to all of these places and everyone was disarmed and not ready to fight back because they were gun free zones.
Think what would happen at a national level if the American people were disarmed. Another evil would come along either from inside our country or outside of it and resulting in our downfall.
How about others in recent history:
-In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
-In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
-Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
-China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated
-Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
-Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
-Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
-Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.
Solutions
Write your state representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue. I would like to think that most states would refuse the order.
Next, at the local level, talk to your Sheriff or Chief of Police and ask them if they would allow or support the federal government in their confiscation of firearms. Put them on the spot now and hold them accountable. I like to think that most states would refuse the order.
Should firearm confiscation begin, solutions are simple. If they cannot live in a community, they cannot work in a community. If their house goes away while they are at work confiscating guns, so be it. Allow them to leave with their family and what possessions they can pack in their car. Point them to California and let them know all the Hollywood types would be happy to financially support them in the fantasy land they wish to live in and that they are not welcome in Free America.
In the end I believe that guns are the glue that hold our country together. Guns keep the government in check and the individual American safe and free. Remove guns and the government will no longer be controlled by the people. The government will control the people.
Finally, it is claimed that the Battles of Lexington and Concord, in 1775 were started because General Gage attempted to carry out an order by the British government to disarm the population resulting in the “Shot heard round the world.”
About the Author
Paul R. Howe is a 20-year veteran and former Special Operations soldier and instructor. He owns Combat Shooting and Tactics (CSAT), where he consults with, trains and evaluates law enforcement and government agencies in technical and tactical techniques throughout the special operations spectrum. See www.combatshootingandtactics.com for details.
Tags: Paul Howe, Wilson Combat
I like it. Valid points and well thought out. While I’m currently stationed “behind enemy lines” (Colorado) I feel that we are being defended by our county sheriffs and my fellow brothers in the Military. It would be a sad day if and when confiscation orders came down, only because it would end badly for those issuing and carrying out unlawful orders.
A very subdued but nevertheless there threat to people in the federal and law enforcement community, personally I would concentrate on the politicians behind the laws it’s like they say when you need them, LE (both federal and local) are you’re best friend but when you step out of line they are worse than shit and this instance it’s the government who need to be the target for you’re outrage not the guys on the ground.
As for some of the “facts” put forward there were many more important factors in play both socially and politically than gun control, ie soviet republic 29-53, gun control in a country at war?
Guatemala-please check the history books (CIA,American corporations and US govt interference feature heavily in this period) due to the locals who wanted there land back but the UFC backed by a dictator quelled the uprising.
Anyone can twist and distort “facts” but going the same way as the politicians who distort facts to push there agendas makes you no better than them.
PID Your targets and interrogate you’re intel to give the true picture
I don’t see any threats here. I find it interesting that you do.
Many Germans didn’t see the holocaust but others did
You see threats to LE in this article?
Check your own post before criticizing someone else’s. I heartily recommend a proofreader for you.
A proofreader for what??? free speech and the ability to read English and interrogate historical facts and information according to everyone apart from Americans who have knack of making history fot their own needs or agendas.
I thought (obviously wrongly) that Americans valued free speech and the individuals right to state an opinion ???? I. Have met many good Americans both veteran and serving who have see enough bloodshed to last a lifetime who wouldn’t want to turn on a person wearing their national flag on their arm. Could you shoot a man doing as he was ordered??? Bearing in mind this might be you’re neighbour. It seems there are many who would incite violence but few who would work for progress as violence is the easy option, it’s good to see organisations like the NRA doing the right thing while rednecks and dumbass idiots stock up on ammo for,the invasion lol when is red dawn out
I don’t believe the National Guard had a problem confiscating weapons after Katrina. Correct me if I am wrong but that truly happened and I haven’t read any reports about those guardsman not following orders to do so.
Speaking only for myself I do not believe the Gov will try and suddenly ban firearm ownership. It seems they will instead chip away at it until eventually it is gone or at the very least massively reduced. This will take time, years of times probably a decade or more.
The strategy is to take offer two measures of further gun control: for example we want 100% background checks and to ban all of X type firearm. Oh the banning of X type of firearm isn’t reasonable? Okay we will meet you in the middle and only get background checks… so while gun owners get nothing the media says this is a good deal for both groups. Next time around they will take another two steps forward say lets compromise and simply take one step back…
Some did. Others didn’t. Others who did were reprimanded for taking private property and ordered to return it.
Katrina was a clusterfuck wrapped in a goatrope.
Amen on that observation.
There are some people around the New Orleans area who are still trying to get their property back because the police and national guard didn’t give receipts when they stole your stuff.
I think it’s a little naive to assume that the Govt will be inept at confiscating guns, and I think it’s more naive to think that we’ll hear about it right away and be able to coordinate, in the unlikely event something like this happened. Look at the Branch Davidians – if you listened to news back then, you had the impression that it was a bunch of psycho religious nuts who were torturing children and eating babies, when it was actually the ATF who should all have been brought up on federal charges. And yet it was *years* before people could even hear the true story, and even now probably only 5% of people even know about that happening.
If anything ever went down, there would be careful information control, so you wouldn’t hear anything about the first two dozen confiscations, then probably some word would get out but they would put out a press release saying it was “domestic terrorists” and trump up whatever evidence they had so that many law abiding citizens think twice about the veracity of the reports of confiscations.
Then all of the sudden you’d have a four-man squad of guardsmen in full body armor pounding on your door, and despite people talking tough on the internet, that’s not the kind of thing an individual can reasonably stand up to.
So it’s important we nip this stuff in the bud, before it turns into law. It won’t end well for citizens if things go too far and they attempt a confiscation.
Paul hit the nail on the head, except for the part about sending the politicians to California. We already have enough of that dead weight. Hollywood, although a great source for some good entertainment, is a cancer. It needs to be cut out and tossed into the ocean. Unfortunately that cancer spreads to the sheople through the media pipeline and infects too many. We need a cure for Hollywood cancer!
Hollywood gets a pass on this issue, mostly because they control access to content that the mainstream media fills 24-hour programming days with.
Producers, directors and celebrities who make fortunes on movies that romanticize and sanitize violence, then turn around and blame the tools used by a a microscopic segment of their fan base who is provoked to violence are so obviously motivated by greed, naked self-interest and hypocrisy that they should be given the opportunity to explain themselves in referenda on the First Amendment equal to the current one on the Second Amendment. Or hunted for sport. Their choice.
Gun confiscation has already been done in this country. It has been done incrementaly, in small steps, designed so as not to rile the natives into taking serious action.
How many people do you know who can no longer own guns because of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge from 20 years ago? How many people no longer own guns that were legal just a few years ago, but have been declared contraband without onerous regulations in some states?
The confiscation will not be all at once, but incrementally, over generations. We have already lost a great deal. We are in the process of restoring some of our rights.
Gun Registration is Gun Confiscation
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2012/12/gun-registration-is-gun-confiscation.html
Anyone remember this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tta1qhQZWSE
Disarming citizens in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I don’t fear a nation-wide confiscation but I am concerned about events like this.
If the Military and police moved all of the their family members onto military bases during a ‘time of emergency’ secured a steady supply of diesel for vehicles and generators and stockpiled enough food and MRE’s they could survive free of the populations support for a while. At that point it’s just a matter of having enough PERSONAL and TIME to balance base security/raids/rest.
How would you get the military to raid their fellow countrymen? First find your Kool-aid drinkers, and get them to be in the positions of power, next deploy soldiers to states and communities away from where they grew up, and away from where their families are kept safe.
Next demonize gun owners. All you need is a handful of gun owners to make the first move and follow through with their threats that they are going to “start killing people”. All you need is one DEAD naive 18-20 year old kid fresh out of basic too afraid to say no to when his Lt tells him to take someone’s gun away and you have a martyr for the military. Someone’s ‘unnecessary’ and ‘unjustified’ killing to unify those with the biggest guns.
What happens when cops start dieing? What happens when soldiers start dieing? You need only look to the recent events in LA for the answer.
Whether or not the Government can take your guns away is matter of two things:
It it possible socially (can you convince your personal to do it).
It it possible logistically (do you have enough time and resources).
Sorry to be a party pooper, but in my opinion the outlook isn’t that bright. Lets look at some quick and rough numbers:
Population of Iraq in 2003. 26 million.
Troops in Iraq in 2007 (peak) 166,000.
Contractors in Iraq in 2007 145,000.
Ratio of Civilian Gun Ownership in Iraq(2007) 34.2.
Ratio of ARMED Civilian Population to Government Personal:
~ 34.2 : 1.2
Population of America now: 314 million.
Ration of ARMED Americans: 88 out of 100.
Land Troops in America Active and Reserve(Army & Marines): 1,168,497.
Federal Law Enforcement Personal: 106,760.
Total Government Personal:
Ratio of ARMED Civilian Population to Government Personal:
~ 216.68 : 1
Okay, now I feel a little better.
On the plus side, I did not include the air force or navy, both active a reserve, and they are definitely force multipliers. Also the fact that some of the troops in my math would have be pulled out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, South Korea, Germany, Carrier Battle Groups(for the marines) and who knows where else.
However on the negative side, I also did not include state or local police, or private security contractors / private security firms.
Just some food for thought.
-Alex
Don’t forget that most of your Contractors during the Iraq/Afghanistan period that were American Citizens, were pro 2A and have spent that “evil” contract money on more guns and ammo here in the US.
Great writeup Howe!
An intellectually astute write up on the cause! Good on ya Paul! Quite a few high profile others on “Our” side of the 2A coin should take a couple deep breaths, push back from the computer and use this logical approach to the situation, before lending their valuable names and opinions to the cause. Bravo Paul!
Many of the politicians are simply attempting to build the infrastructure to fully support the repeal of the US Constitution.
Hey everyone. Just a reminder that a lot of rank and file LE are some of the biggest gun owners around. I don’t want to give up my personally owned guns either. Our issued weapons suck.
No one wants bad guys to have guns but its stupid to criminalize people who have proven themselves responsible owners of items requiring trust, ie firearms. Owning and using firearms responsibly makes you more worthy of trust in general IMO. Lets keep standing up for what’s right.
Amen!
Agreed
Except they’ll make exceptions for LEOs to keep guns, just to make sure they’re kept happy. Even now, if I’m not mistaken, LEOs are immune to those ridiculous “gun free zones” – there is already two classes of “civilians”. The sneaky SOBs in charge of confiscation won’t be stupid, they’ll be trained in how to confiscate with minimal collateral damage, and they will be VERY well versed in propaganda and information control.
This article pretty much sums up why as a LEO I’m pro 2A.
http://monderno.com/monderno/your-safety-is-not-the-governments-responsibility/
Until the government can give each citizen their own protective detail 24/7 like POTUS gets (obviously impossible), it is immoral to deny them the right and ability to defend themselves.
Another thought – most guys I work with were gun guys before they became LE/MIL. They became LE/MIL because they love our country and its constitution.
I know there are bad cops and soldiers out there, but can we please tone down the us/them attitude towards us.
Thanks.
If the military personnel are not stationed where they grew up, or have family in the immediate community where they are stationed (and a whole bunch are in that category), they have less invested in that immediate community. There is more potential for them to develop an “us vs. them” mentality, and I can see this intentionally exploited by powers that be. I’m hopeful that our American personality will prevail, but I see and hear so many who have no concept of what built this nation and has kept it protected for so long, that I’m apprehensive of what is around the corner.
There are young people who either have not had to work for what they hold dear, or have never seen what goes into that. They who have that sense of entitlement to “things” in their environment and get those “things” from people who want to take from us our inalienable , can be very dangerous. Those who have grown up their entire lives in total security cannot comprehend why anyone good would want a firearm, and we are into a second generation of numerous people with this mindset.
Has anyone in this forum been keeping up with the “strong civilian militia” our president promised us? I believe they have graduated a class already nation wide, and the age group is in the same category as those in Germany who forced the Nazi way of life onto perfectly stable, strong willed citizens… young, so absolutely sure of themselves, strong, and incapable of drawing on experiences they haven’t had yet.
I’m encouraged by so many in forums like this who are liberty/law and order with a conscience/freedom oriented… but concerned that we might not be enough. Thoughts?
I spoke with an ATF agent friend of mine. He said he could comply with a confiscate order by placing a cardboard box outside his office and let anyone deposit their guns in it. He would then turn in the full box, but he wasn’t to optimistic about the box filling up (he then gave a chuckle). He is also a fellow gun owner.
What abnout the Muslims and Gang Bangers in the US Military now? Neither have any allegence to the USA.
I was not a professsional Liar, But worked in a Recruiting District.
the recruiters and Commanding Officers would enlist anybody that could qualify to make the numbers!
Like boiling a frog . . .
With nearly 75 years of ‘hindsight’, this old constitutional conservative has witnessed the ‘slippery slope slide’ of our country with extreme regret as well as with the ‘but this is to be expected’ attitude; history yet again just repeating itself; we having failed again and again and again to learn from the mistakes of the past and having ignored the wisdom contained therein, we are thus doomed, to repeat them over and over again. But what do I know? . . . a 75 year old disabled Mississippian looking forward to and counting down to LIFT OFF COURTESY OF JEHOVAH GOD, JESUS THE JEWISH MESSIAH AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The gun confiscation really is silly. Anyone who’s been in the military or police can tell you about the disorganization rampant in the organizations. Trying to coordinate the people to do this is 100% impossible.
As a SSG, police officer, and SWAT officer, I can tell you just about everyone in those organizations, at least here in the South, are pro-gun. We discussed this on our team. The one admin guy we have is the only one who might actually do something so idiotic. The rest of us have no problem telling him or any of our other fellow officers “No you’re not doing that”.