Reader John writes…
TTAG’s post, Connecticut: The Coming Storm was the last straw for me. Many have been discussing the general theme of confiscation for a while, and while I believe that is a good thing (the discussion, that is), I believe too many are far behind the curve. The hypothetical/fictional scenario illustrated in that piece is certainly possible, and even likely; but it is behind the curve in terms of the tactics that are likely to be used . . .
I liken this to the argument that antis make (made?) that no one is coming for our guns. Before Newtown, I never really heard anyone arguing that someone was actually coming for our firearms. Then again, I never really heard anyone clearly communicate that there are definitely some trying to limit and prohibit our ability to acquire new ones and limit what we may choose from (and that there’s nothing wrong with obtaining and having our choice of guns). That would be an argument ahead of the rhetorical curve. Retorting, “yes, they are coming for them!” (although valid) is an argument behind the curve.
As for door-to-door (D2D) confiscation, how single-minded we become once we’re on the defensive. I’ve heard a quote that goes something like, “history does not repeat itself, but it sure rhymes”. While D2D confiscation is a very real threat and a historical reality, does anyone really believe that law enforcement won’t make plans to their best advantage?
D2D confiscation won’t be law enforcement’s primary modus operandi. For one thing, it does nothing for the operational security of that mission to publicize such a predictable maneuver. Once started, D2D confiscation will be by definition a very predictable, public event. In my humble opinion, far more likely and tactically sound methods of persecuting/prosecuting people in violation of Connecticut’s anti-gun law will go down more like this:
Law enforcement obtains a bogus non-firearms related warrant, or “mistakenly” executes such a warrant on the wrong person/dwelling, a la Jose Guerena. Simple enough. This will be reported publicly as a drug warrant. Any weapons recovered would be a bonus. And since the weapons in question are now illegal to own, they cannot be returned. No outrage. After decades of the “war on drugs” this is commonplace. A few DEA agents could throw off the suspect’s suspicions about the weapons violation rendering him relatively docile.
Here’s another hybrid approach. Police will obtain a warrant – bogus or legitimate – on a suspect. They will stake out his dwelling until they are ready to execute. On the day of the execution they will wait until the suspect leaves in an automobile, trail him until he crosses over a yellow line or fails to use a turn signal and then pull him over. They will take him into custody and let the warrant squad know that they’re clear to conduct the raid. They’ll trash the dwelling, harass and possibly batter any occupants present. At this point they will either get what they came for, or they won’t. The point being, that the primary individual that might provide resistance won’t be at the scene when it all goes down.
This kind of scenario avoids the possibility of thousands of Ruby Ridge-like events. Then again, the police may not even bother with real estate. They’ll go after all suspects when they’re alone in their automobiles in traffic, unsuspecting and totally unprepared to do anything about it. Law enforcement literally makes their living on the streets. It’s their turf and they have home field advantage.
I could go on about possible variations and scenarios. Heck, LEOs might just set up shop at gun stores and shooting ranges and let the violators come to them in some sort of twisted checkpoint, as outlandish as that may sound. The point, though, is that the scenarios I offered are ahead of the curve in terms of the usual door-to-door tactics most people envision. I don’t want there to be any bloodshed, but those in this very real situation (and every other freedom-oriented individual following these events) ought to be aware that D2D is outdated.
You make an excellent point and the main takeaway should be this: How will the Police know who get to warrant against?
Snitches, that’s how. For a monetary incentive or even just a pat on the back, people will rat you out. They want to pit neighbor against neighbor and will even try to dupe or pressure family members and friends. That is how it will go down over the long term.
Once upon a time, in countries across the big water, they encouraged children to report their parents for things. Doing things, saying things, owning things that the state frowned upon.
How’s this for a scenario?
Elementary school holds a safety assembly. Talk about “dangerous” things in the home. The trooper giving the talk asks the kids to raise their hands if their parents own any guns.
Those kids are taken aside afterwards. “So Johnny, what kind of gun does your dad own?” “Oh really? That’s neat. Run along to class now.” Meanwhile a walk down to the office produces the home address and Dad’s work address from the emergency contact card.
Yee-haw!
Sounds like a lot of shady stuff going down at LCG AR Part and Custom Accessories… so I guess the ATF thinks Ares Armor is guilty by association because they also sell 80% lowers?
Hrmmm, the plot thickens.
Did the author confuse his own abbreviations or am I not following the participants correctly? It seems as if UC#1 suddenly became CI#1 and LCG turned into LGS… wtf?
Everybody in every state can point to something special about their state that justifies the federal spending they receive. All of that is just so much rationalization and chit chat when you learn that the majority of the federal budget is spent on transfer payments to individuals, and that 11 states have more residents on welfare than who work.
Per the Economic Policy Journal, Kentucky is one of the 11. So set aside your firearms and all pretense of self-reliance. Kentuckians are serfs now. They should vote Democrat, keep the Uncle Sugar tap flowing, and at least start being honest about themselves.
You’re right. IF everyone involved in the confiscation is being smart. And wars are usually started by someone NOT being smart. Look at Waco. There were so many mistakes made there if the goal was to accomplish a simple, safe, takedown.
Problem is, ego and authority come into play. The CT Gov may just want to set an example – they may WANT the D2D raids, risk and all, to demonstrate the folly of resisting the total authority of their government. They may consider a half dozen dead LEOs highly acceptable collateral damage – and a trump card for securing LE cooperation. The boys in blue don’t like it when their brothers get shot.
Same thing happened it Tienanmen Square.
Many individuals in the army sided with the protesters – the command to put down the protest would be disobeyed by many. So, high command sent an APC through the mob. The mob, through sheer force of numbers, stopped the APC, pulled the occupants out, and beat them to death. The rest of the army, watching from a distance, was horrified and was then ready for the crippling, murderous beat-down that followed. The Chinese military leaders understood that they needed the sacrifice of the guy in the APC – so they made a really dumb move at the tactical level to advance their strategic goals. The APC was a gambit – the mob should have let it pass.
The leaders in CT are playing a dangerous game – we can’t assume they will make the sanest moves or that we understand their motives fully. History shows that tyrants often make bad choices (Lexington and Concord, anyone?). I hope gun owners are studying strategy and tactics – we need wisdom here.
NEXT
Ban on drone building parties/model airplane clubs. Interesting that it’s Code Pink that has DiFi’s undies in a knot.
.http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/drone-regulation-dianne-feinstein-104718.html
I think it will probably be done with a huge show of force like the Boston lock down. They want gun owners to shoot at the police. It gives the government a reason to declare martial law and expand the confiscation.
I realize the point is to solicit donations but for me this video only confirms the preparations my family has made to survive a significant disruption in food, power and law & order. However, I’ve said it before and I will say it again as proven in post Katrina NOLA…the closer you get to the city the less civilized people are. Power loss in a major city for 7 days could trigger this sort of experience for a child of an un-prepared family.
BTW, read this article from the NY Times about the fallout from the lawless days and weeks following Katrina. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/us/27racial.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
It is amazing how the the passage of time and creep of the urban progressive viewpoint has allowed this transformation of the post Katrina predators into the victims. The neighbors who banded together as “militia” to protect their neighborhood life and property from roaming bands of violent thugs are now the criminals. The police patrols that engaged in firefights with gangsters over turf are now being accused of firing on innocent civilians.
Good to see more of my shipmates honoring their oaths, even if it’s symbolic in nature.
People with 0% BAC should be able to carry in bars IMHO
Texas’ reasoning is understandable with the 51% part of the law but it’s poorly executed. If you have a 0% BAC and are not drinking at all you should be able to have your weapon in a bar. Chances are you aren’t staying for a while anyway.
Your analysis of this situation is spot-on, with ONE glaring mistake. The citizens of Connecticut DID ask for this fight. They WANTED confiscation. By electing Statists to their Legislature, should they be SURPRISED when these Statists begin limiting their rights through law?
Their only option is to comply with the laws, until these legislators can be removed from office and these laws repealed.
As an American society, we get what we deserve when we allow Evil to Flourish.
For those those in the firearm community, this should be a cautionary tale about whom you support and at what point. Not everyone out there is truly an innocent victim of an overreaching bureaucracy. Some are criminals. How either of these cases will end I couldn’t tell you; but it should speak for itself that there’s almost always more to a given story than the initial reports suggest.
For those in the firearms industry, this should be a similar lesson. If you’re regulated and policed by an agency known for abuse and crossing the line, then you might not want to operate too closely to the line to begin with. The ATF, fine lines, and nuanced legal interpretations don’t mix well.
Please get your facts straight before you publish something that is defamation of character. The Jeffrey muller you call a power broker that stole 500k is a total untruth. He was not even involved in that business deal on any level and never stole a dime from anyone. It is a complete case of mistaken identity for both Jeff Muller’s so stop publishing statements or you will be sued!
Here’s an interesting question.
Say you took a legally bought 80% receiver to a “rent a machine shop” type of place, sometimes known as a “hackerspace” or “makerspace”. Typically you go through a class on a particular machine (say, mill/drill which is all that is needed for this) and then you do whatever you want with it, unsupervised.
http://www.xerocraft.org/ – this is a typical example.
Assuming you aren’t being assisted by another machinist at a place like this, and assuming they don’t have an FFL (I very much doubt any of them do!) and they don’t have any pre-made “jigs” for an AR15 blank then…is there a legal liability problem for the makerspace?
What if somebody makes a jig for their own project and then leaves it there for others?
I guarantee you shops like this will run into this issue eventually.
I built Maurice the FrankenRuger at Xerocraft and theoretically I made enough changes (caliber swap at cylinder and barrel, plus the mag feed and gas-eject systems) to qualify Maurice as a “home built firearm”, I think? But Maurice was already a serialized store-bought handgun (Ruger New Vaquero).
All door-to-door scenarios, whether disguised as drug raids or not, are all too complex.
Much more likely is that the guns are confiscated when used in public. Take one to a range? Watch out for off-duty cops who see it. Out in some government forest or park shooting them? Watch for rangers. (I am in CA; I don’t know how rangers and government forests and parks are organized in CT.) Pulled over for speeding and have them in your car? Too bad.
They don’t need to actually search for the guns if they make them unusable. Go ahead and keep them for SHTF and TEOTWAWKI. That’s not the point; the point is out of sight, out of mind, and that’s accomplished by making gun owners afraid to show them in public.
“Every serious gun owner should already have a primary gun safe in the home. A heavy, armored vault that will defeat determined, if not expert, thieves with a crowbar or cordless drill and the time to use them.”
Two thoughts on this point.
One-apartment dwellers such as myself don’t have an option to use safes. First, you have to get the thing into the unit.Nothing says “steal me” to the neighbors better then wheeling in a huge box in broad daylight into your unit.
Second, it would be a progressive landlord who would let you drill holes and bolt the thing into his unit.Most every one I’ve dealt with prohibited detailed modifications to the structure like that. Which means anything which can be wheeled into a unit can be wheeled right back out, thus turning a safe from a security measure to a theif assistance device. Now your guns are in one, easy to steal box instead of several places.
I’ve resorted to keeping two of my three handguns stored in safety deposit boxes.The third is the only one I keep in the apartment, and loaded and on my person at all times.
Just epoxy the safe to the floor. So what if some finish or concrete comes off when removing the safe. You didn’t need your deposit back, right?
Install a Stack-On Heavy Duty Pistol Box on one of the shelves in your closet. Screw it into the wall studs and run a couple of 1/4″ bolts into it from the bottom, through the closet shelf. The locks use the tubular “cylinder” keys. Your landlord is unlikely to be poking through your closets without a warrant, it won’t take up a huge amount of closet space, and you can take it with you when you move. Spackle will cover up the holes in the sheetrock and the closet shelves – a touch of the appropriate color paint and the landlord will never know it was there. (I speak form personal experience in a rental years ago.) You can even do this with one of their long-gun metal cases if your closet is deep enough. If the interior wall studs are not at the right spacing, screw 2 horizontal 1x4s or 2x4s to the wall first (at the same height as the anchor holes in the box), then screw the gun box into those.
Again, not a heavy-duty safe but a lot better than hiding the pistols under your mattress, and prying the box out will require a prybar, time and noise..
The US postal service will be your worse enemy. Those CT residents targeted will get letters indicating tax audits, seizures of real property, inability to register your car, loss of professional licenses etc. Then Child Services will call you in and take your children. All done with the banality of beauracrats. Have a nice day…
So I can send money to children I’ve no connection to in Syria, or keep my money and use it for the good of my children and those in my own community. Not a hard choice.
If something like in the video ever happens I don’t think I’ll be saying “well I could of used a few more cans of food for my own children, but it was worth the sacrifice to help those children in Syria”.
You’d be surprised what a “A heavy, armored vault that will defeat determined, if not expert, thieves with a crowbar or cordless drill and the time to use them.” costs and weighs and how few people actually buy them. You standard AMSEC BF series is gonna cost around $3000 plus Freight and weigh around 1000 pounds. You shiny paint Chinese imports and even American made “gun safes” that cost $500-$1500 and weigh under 500 lbs are a joke to a thief with time and tools.
Didn’t Ares host some build parties, perhaps before its attorney was told they couldn’t without an FFL.
Next time Obama wants to punish somebody, he should just flagalate himself. We’re getting tired of getting the brunt of other’s punishments….
Seems most ‘Active Shooters’ when confronted with an armed response kill themselves. The rest are not interested in surrendering and continue their assault. The question is mostly moot.
Well my dozen cans of 5.45 just got more valuable…..
Damn, Cuban cigars and now this… Can a guy just have some fun without politics screwing it up…
Never really liked the lines of Sigs. Still don’t. I can understand that it takes a really talented and experienced person to make this gun, so I can admire it for that reason. But does it have to be so ugly?
Nobody has explained how this would even impact importation of commercial small arms and ammo.
Until the shipments stop coming in, I’m not buying any of it.
I already have a safe full of AKs, SKSes, and crates of ammo, so I don’t have to play this ridiculous scare mongering game this time around.
Lets think about why cops aren’t having to use their weapons……..Oh, possibly because the criminals aren’t willing to risk attacking and armed person???
Let’s use common sense Neil. You don’t have to carry a gun….I want force you, but as a citizen of the US I reserved the right to carry and use mine…..DONT TREAD ON ME!!
I just finished storing away 2,000 rounds of WOLF and just signed as I noticed on each box, “Made in Ukraine.”
Someone make me feel better and tell me that this is going to make 300 BLK take off in popularity, with a massive correlating increase in supply and therefore drastic reduction cost?
depends on size of assailant. depends on distance between us. depends on if he is trying to flee or act as an agressor.
Frankly a non lethal shot would be better than a kill. Either keep him/her down or immobilize them.
If i was at my children school and i saw an active school shooter going in to the school i always carry my Smith & Wesson M&P in 9mm with a spare magazine i went into the school after him if i told him to drop the gun that he is holding and he does not do it then yes i would runn him to the ground so my children or other children or school staff does not get hurt i carry everyday for the last 21 and half years i am teaching my kids i about what to look for when we are out they know there are evil people out when we are and thats why i carry So to answer your question yes i would shoot to save lives
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful post. Thanks for supplying these details.
1. Agree with Highvoltage. Really poor topic choice.
2. A lot of people talking big here who have never had to shoot another human being. It isn’t much like the movies and you wake up sweaty and screaming your lungs out from time to time for the rest of your life, no matter how justified your actions were. A lot of justified shooters later end up divorced.
3. Defenders are not Junior cops. You are only allowed to use deadly force to stop an immediate deadly threat. If that threat has surrendered, and you shoot and kill, you will be prosecuted and you should be. There will be no medal ceremony. You have just committed murder. Like it, don’t like it. Whatever floats your boat.
Great article, thanks! Scary too! I would hope my adrenaline rush wouldn’t cause me to shake like a leaf! I’ve never experienced someone shooting AT me – on that note thanks to all the good LEO’s and military folks (active and inactive) …. Ya’ll are brave Mo-Fo’s!
John, love your story and am glad things worked out!! You MUST start with Justified’s FIRST season! It’s truly the best AND you need to history!!
Oliphant is a terrific actor
This guy is a HISTORY professor? Did he get his diploma with a roll of paper towels?
So liberals are incapable of controlling their own emotions, and cannot be trusted with anything potentially dangerous where “sensitive topics” are discussed? Do they allow cars, sporks, heavy books, laptops, etc….on campus. I know from my time in college that there are plenty of non-firearm deadly objects all over the place.
He tells us more about his own persona than about people in general when he opines on this topic.
It would be interesting if some LEO’s appealed the constitutionality of these laws to protect themselves down the road from having their own version of a Nuremburg (I was just following orders as I was violating gun owners rights) trial.
If you really want your blood to boil, read the comments to the article.
But I have to say it again, WHAT THE HELL ARE DR. MURTHY’S IMPECCABLE CREDENTIALS?
He is a 36 yr old interist, barely out of residency, who spent more time politicking than engaging in patient care. He has made no obvious achievement in medicine, he is not widely published in the medical journals.
He is a political hack. He organized a PAC to get Obama elected and ACA signed into law. His gun control advocacy is a side business to being a shill in a lab coat for Obamacare. It is an offence to the United States to make such a transparent political hack the top Doc.
CARY: Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.
Ya’ll can figure it out from there.
I thought this problem was addressed when HOAs tried to prohibit political yard signs and was slapped down in court.
The U.S. federal government as an entity does not, but many of the people in positions of power who seek to hold onto that power as well as gain more do want to disarm the ignorant masses.
“Superannuated” is not a word. I have only the vaguest idea what the writer meant by the word.
Just awesome – I wish more people and companies would take this attitude when dealing with brown-shirted government thugs and nazi murderers.