May I ask our LEOS a question?

[jollyman]

Would YOU participate in firearm confiscation, from otherwise law abiding citizens, if you were ordered to?

[RoyGBiv]

I believe that question would be better proposed to military members, because that's what it would take to accomplish the job. If you combined the numbers of police (nationally) and US military, they would still be outnumbered ~7 to 1 by the number of hunters in America. And not all gun owners are hunters. It would take a military grade effort to pull off confiscation, IMO.

US military total: ~2.5M including reserves (can be found in multiple places, here's one)
US Police forces: ~800,000, including Federal LE (2006 numbers, Source)
Total: ~3.3M

American hunters: Estimated from 23M to 40M (2010 data, Source)

23/3.3 = 6.97

[jsenner]

I believe that question would be better proposed to military members, because that's what it would take to accomplish the job. If you combined the numbers of police (nationally) and US military, they would still be outnumbered ~7 to 1 by the number of hunters in America. And not all gun owners are hunters. It would take a military grade effort to pull off confiscation, IMO.

good point, there are a LOT of non-hunting gun owners out there these days...

but back to the original question - would you participate? if it was such an effort and it was a combined military/police thing? what do you think your co-officers would do generally speaking?

that would be a crazy dangerous thing to have to pull off - there's going to be a fair number of people that'll 'go down fighting', I suspect a majority that would get creative and hide as much as possible, and a minority that would comply. scary to think about...

[ShepherdTX]

I think it will more likely be the UN men in blue helmets who will be trying this.

[jollyman]

I believe that question would be better proposed to military members, because that's what it would take to accomplish the job. If you combined the numbers of police (nationally) and US military, they would still be outnumbered ~7 to 1 by the number of hunters in America. And not all gun owners are hunters. It would take a military grade effort to pull off confiscation, IMO.

good point, there are a LOT of non-hunting gun owners out there these days...

but back to the original question - would you participate? if it was such an effort and it was a combined military/police thing? what do you think your co-officers would do generally speaking?

that would be a crazy dangerous thing to have to pull off - there's going to be a fair number of people that'll 'go down fighting', I suspect a majority that would get creative and hide as much as possible, and a minority that would comply. scary to think about...

A scary thing to think about indeed, I personally don’t think it will ever get to that point but I know a fair number of people who do. I just thought I’d test the waters.

[jollyman]

I think it will more likely be the UN men in blue helmets who will be trying this.

I believe you are correct,,, that’s why I think the zombies of the apocalypse will be wearing blue helmets.

[VMI77]

I don't think there will be any confiscation by force....but if there is, they're not going to use local police as the main force, they'll use "Homeland Security," probably the BATF. And I suspect it would be on a very limited basis...a handful of certain gun owners will be targeted and they will see shock and awe attacks. Any resistance will be met with extermination. Anyone killed will be designated a "terrorist enemy of America" and the news media will revel in the elimination of such evil and dangerous people who don't respect the laws of the land. That will motivate a lot of gun owners to turn in their prohibited weapons.

[n5wd]

...but back to the original question - would you participate? if it was such an effort and it was a combined military/police thing? what do you think your co-officers would do generally speaking?

There is an organization known as Oath Keepers, whose stated objective is to resist those actions taken by the US (and, I would suppose, any state or local government) that would ask the members to overstep Constitutional boundaries. From the Wikipedia entry about the Oath Keepers "

The Oath Keepers feel that their sworn oath to the American Constitution, grants them not only the right, but the duty to refuse unconstitutional orders. The Oath Keepers organization has published a list of orders that they will not obey:

Orders to disarm the American people.
Orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people.
Orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
Orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
Orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
Any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
Any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
Orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."
Any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
Any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Some folks tend to understand that an oath, once given, is not to be taken lightly.

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/

[E.Marquez]

I don't think there will be any confiscation by force.

THIS^^

No need for it.. no gain from it...and a high probability of failure.
"They" whoever you think they are.. do not want the remaining scorched earth left after a civil war or large uprising.

And they have no need.. just tax, regulate, restrict the manufacture of ammo and new weapons... Then Regulate and restrict grandfathered weapons to the point almost anything involving the weapon being out of a government approved safe with double locks and a two person rule.. is against the law.. Requiring forfeit of the weapon due to YOUR violation.
Basically every gun that sees the light of day will be in violation and scooped up.

Now don’t get me wrong….. I have no tin foil upon my head.. I don’t think this will happen.. BUT if “They” have a plan and the will to rid the US country of all weapons… or even a particula type/ group of weapons..It will not be forcible confiscation; it will be a slow, steady erosion of rights and increase in restrictions, regulations and laws.

[The Annoyed Man]

Eric, I would agree with you but for one thing.....the absolute unhinged nature of liberalism these days. They don't think beyond the next 5 minutes. When people on the Internet are openly and publicly calling for the murder, literally calling for the murder, of any member of the NRA, without regard to protecting their own identities, I don't think that most people on the left have the reasoning capacity remaining to put together a plan like that.

[powerboatr]

mass confiscation imo would be like enforcing prohibition, waste gazillions of dollars and not make any real dent in the issue.
then years later it would be repealed

maybe 300k persons get arrested...but not serve any real time, prison building would go full force to hold the new criminals,

in states that do not require registration...how would any agency ever know exactly where each firearm is? It would take years to whittle down a list and then actually go door to door
then how would they prove the old records were accurate and actually get a warrant to search and seize? reading emails? just because i visit here does not mean i own a firearm, nor does buying powder from mid-south and others . Although i bet we would be the first searched

if they want to do something to make everyone feel good
go the the housing projects in chicago
block off the whole block, no one in our out, search the people and detain them until the event has passed
do a floor by floor room by room search and confiscate the firearms.
they have murdered over 1200 persons this year, in a city that has extremely strict gun laws
do this in all the "HOT" spots in our nation (DC, Compton, etc) and make real progress, then the lawful persons may be inclined to give up one or two firearms

[recaffeination]

Would YOU participate in firearm confiscation, from otherwise law abiding citizens, if you were ordered to?

There seem to be plenty of hired guns willing to enforce NYC gun laws.

[Jaguar]

I doubt very many sworn law enforcement officers would be willing to post a yes/no to this question on the internet. A yes would ostracize them from this community, and no would alert superiors of a fly in the ointment.

Just my opinion as a citizen.

[stroo]

They would do it like the UK and Australia did. Basically it would be voluntary but if you are caught with an illegal gun sometime after the cut off date, you will face prison time.

[57Coastie]

They'll use dogs.

Jim