Opinion
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- I have had conversations with gun owners from time to time who don’t want to get involved in the gun rights movement. Two reasons stand out from my interaction with them. One is lethargy, often associated with the notion that “they are not after my kind of gun.” The other is a fear of being a target of radical gun prohibitionists enforcing some sort of gun ban. I will address each of these here, pointing out possible flaws with each position.
My Gun Is Safe
Adherents to this notion have believed that the gun grabbers were not interested in their particular type of firearms hardware. Gun owners have historically been divided into several groups, with often overlapping edges. You have hunters, target shooters, plinkers, and defensive carriers; each group with their own interests. Hunters may only fire a handful of shots each year, a few sighting in shots at the beginning of the season, and then what’s necessary to take their chosen game. This group has been derogatorily labeled by some as Fudd’s after Elmer Fudd, of Looney Toons fame.
Well now, we’ve all heard that Elmer has had his gun banned. Instead, he is left with the Grim Reaper’s scythe. So maybe your double barrel is not safe, nor that old bolt action. After all, bolt action rifles are the “sniper’s weapon of choice“.
They are not after your hunting gun now, but maybe later. These Goldilocks gun grabbers can never find a gun that is just right (for you to keep).
Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
Others adhere to the notion that if they keep a low profile, they are safe from the gun grabbers. Let’s explore this low profile idea.
In many jurisdictions, private sales are perfectly legal. Some gun owners are very careful to only purchase their firearms this way, in an attempt to stay away from the purview of officialdom. Maybe that’ll work, maybe not?
Your papers, please.
So you don’t want to register your guns; and although NICS records are purported to be destroyed after the transaction, who knows for sure? If you have bought them all in private sales, you may be safe to a point. But are you a registered gun owner? Have you unwittingly gotten on a list?
Here are six (6) actions that will (or may) put you on one.
- Do you have a state-issued handgun permit? You’re on a list.
- Do you get any firearms-related publications? Informed Delivery may not be your friend.
- Do you order any parts or accessories online? There’s a record.
- Do you use a debit or credit card to buy ammo? Hmm… we have seen how pro-gun banks can be.
- Do your FedEx or UPS ammo deliveries have HAZMAT labels? Everybody knows what’s under the plain brown wrapper.
- Do you shop locally and pay with cash, but your dealer has video surveillance?
How difficult would it be for a rogue gun-grabbing government agency to build a dossier on you?
So, unless you live further off the grid than Randy Weaver did, staying on the down-low just may not work.
Get Up, Get Going
The thing to do is fight for your rights while you can. For if the situation deteriorates to the level that Alfred Flatow experienced, it will be too late.
So now is the time to welcome new shooters to the fold, get after your elected representatives, and be proactive in advancing the Second Amendment. As Ole Ben Franklin is quoted as saying, “ WE MUST HANG TOGETHER OR SURELY WE SHALL HANG SEPARATELY
About Liston Matthews
Liston Matthews has been involved in the gun rights movement since 1971. He was involved in the passage of the Tennessee carry law, and its improvements. He has testified before local legislative bodies. He has contacted politicians and had numerous editorial letters published. He believes that politicians must be carefully vetted at the local level because few change their positions when they move to higher office.
Liston writes his own blog Good Hill Press is an AmmoLand News contributor, and formerly wrote at Examiner.com.
In the case of rogue government at any level that would go to this extreme to subvert our natural rights the best defense, the only defense is a strong offense. Simply being a hard target does not get you off the target list. At some point you have to go on the offensive to avoid being pecked to death over time.
And here we go with another vote and protest will save us pile of nonsense.
YOU WILL BE VOTING AND PROTESTING WHILE DNC/ANTIFA TERRORISTS HERD YOU FROM THE CATTLE CARS INTO THE SHOWERS…… Snap out of it and start fighting back.
No offense meant to the author, but the Randy Weaver case is a poor example in this context. It IS a great example of what happens when governments are allowed to instigate crime through entrapment though. But it’s a poor example of trying to stay unnoticed. The Weaver’s didn’t get noticed by the feds until their neighbors compained about gas missing from their tractor, which was admitted to on the Congressional record by a visitor named Kevin Harris. If they had watched their visitors closer, they could have remained unnoticed. But the feds couldn’t have cared less about the neighbors.… Read more »
I build 80% rifles. Not because I am under the delusion that I am not being tracked, but because 1. they are fun to mill out, 2. I can have everything shipped to my door, and 3. its cheaper to buy 80% than buy a completed, pay for shipping, and then the ffl. Local gun shop in spokane has 80%s for $50. If I saw a completed for a comparable price I might get it. Especially a PSA meme lower.
How about instead of worrying about being on a list we take a lesson from John Hancock.
There is at least 6 ways to search and confirm firearm ownership. The governing deny rights to individual ‘free’ citizens establishing a disarmed underclass; a class the governing desires all private citizens. As the suppression of the right to arms progresses, citizens will have to prove they do not and will not posses arms.