Destruction of German Civilian Firearms 1945

[DEB]

Look at all these beautiful firearms being destroyed by the US Army. Boy oh boy, wish I could get several of them today...Must be soldiers from New Jersey.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=YfbcL_sP6z0[/youtube]

[2farnorth]

Since Hitler had all the firearms registered they were probably easy to find.
I'm sad that the US Army was involved. Makes you wonder though... If they did it once I'd bet that they would do it again if the politicians and "leadership" asked them to.

[K.Mooneyham]

While I understand the destruction of certain types of firearms in the push to "demilitarize" Germany, breaking all of those fine double shotguns, for example, was simply ridiculous. I'm sure they did it to make sure "the job was done right", and so no one would have to think about it too much, just get all of them and break them, done deal. Typical bureaucratic mindset.

[MoJo]

The amount of havoc a few diehard Nazis could have done with these guns albeit limited could have been destructive to the whole operation. Look at the insurgency in Iraq, it's still going on after all these years.

[DEB]

The amount of havoc a few diehard Nazis could have done with these guns albeit limited could have been destructive to the whole operation. Look at the insurgency in Iraq, it's still going on after all these years.

Those diehard Nazis, were probably already very well armed, as it was part and parcel of the regime to have a "Nazi partisan" in place with arms/material when the Allies conquered an area. These were the Werewolf movement. But, the German people were probably pretty much fought out, maybe someone would have taken an old double barrel and shot at an American Soldier, but I doubt it. The Germans have never been very adept at being anti-government throughout their history. Destroying old firearms, that was probably only maintained by the upper Middle to upper strata of society just seems a waste to me, but I am a Gun lover the Liberals really enjoy spooking their kids with. I spoke with many old WWII Veterans of the Pacific, and when they entered Japan, they also destroyed all firearms or swords, or sent them home. Needed to destroy the symbolism of freedom of the people to insure they understood they were defeated. We did the same when we first entered Bosnia. Aw well, the past is the past, just seeing these fine old firearms being destroyed hit my soul, regardless of the reasons it was done.

[goose]

Since Hitler had all the firearms registered they were probably easy to find.
I'm sad that the US Army was involved. Makes you wonder though... If they did it once I'd bet that they would do it again if the politicians and "leadership" asked them to.

I don't know, but I suspect asking a bunch of GIs to destroy some firearms from the country that had just been trying to kill them might hit a different emotional nerve than asking them to go round up their buddies' and grandfathers' firearms and destroying those. While not naive about the power of an employer, I don't think our average military/National Guard/LEO personnel are going to easily take to rounding up our firearms. At least not en-masse. At least not today. The sheriffs in Colorado are a good example of the pushback they'd receive. I have many a reservist in the family that would push back greatly. Northern Colorado might be the first (half of a) state to secede.

[equin]

Since Hitler had all the firearms registered they were probably easy to find.
I'm sad that the US Army was involved. Makes you wonder though... If they did it once I'd bet that they would do it again if the politicians and "leadership" asked them to.

I don't know, but I suspect asking a bunch of GIs to destroy some firearms from the country that had just been trying to kill them might hit a different emotional nerve than asking them to go round up their buddies' and grandfathers' firearms and destroying those. While not naive about the power of an employer, I don't think our average military/National Guard/LEO personnel are going to easily take to rounding up our firearms. At least not en-masse. At least not today. The sheriffs in Colorado are a good example of the pushback they'd receive. I have many a reservist in the family that would push back greatly. Northern Colorado might be the first (half of a) state to secede.

Unfortunately, just not too long ago, LEO was ordered to confiscate guns in the New Orleans area following the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

[Purplehood]

Since Hitler had all the firearms registered they were probably easy to find.
I'm sad that the US Army was involved. Makes you wonder though... If they did it once I'd bet that they would do it again if the politicians and "leadership" asked them to.

I don't know, but I suspect asking a bunch of GIs to destroy some firearms from the country that had just been trying to kill them might hit a different emotional nerve than asking them to go round up their buddies' and grandfathers' firearms and destroying those. While not naive about the power of an employer, I don't think our average military/National Guard/LEO personnel are going to easily take to rounding up our firearms. At least not en-masse. At least not today. The sheriffs in Colorado are a good example of the pushback they'd receive. I have many a reservist in the family that would push back greatly. Northern Colorado might be the first (half of a) state to secede.

I don't think it would have bothered me in the least to confiscate firearms from a defeated enemy that is not covered by the US Bill of Rights. I never would have thought of it.

[goose]

I don't know, but I suspect asking a bunch of GIs to destroy some firearms from the country that had just been trying to kill them might hit a different emotional nerve than asking them to go round up their buddies' and grandfathers' firearms and destroying those. While not naive about the power of an employer, I don't think our average military/National Guard/LEO personnel are going to easily take to rounding up our firearms. At least not en-masse. At least not today. The sheriffs in Colorado are a good example of the pushback they'd receive. I have many a reservist in the family that would push back greatly. Northern Colorado might be the first (half of a) state to secede.

Unfortunately, just not too long ago, LEO was ordered to confiscate guns in the New Orleans area following the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

I don't disagree that it can happen. NYC, urban parts of Cali, etc come to mind as well. I would still guess that asking this same thing after a flood in the midwest, which has happened often, would get a different response. I also submit that NOLA is not a good representation of the rest of the US, or the rest of the LEO community. Wait, add Chicago to the "possibles" list. :-)

[VMI77]

The amount of havoc a few diehard Nazis could have done with these guns albeit limited could have been destructive to the whole operation. Look at the insurgency in Iraq, it's still going on after all these years.

Also, at the time, there was both talk and fear of a large insurgency, though it never materialized.