Most gun owners don’t know exactly how many guns they own. That should not be a surprise: most mechanics couldn’t tell you how many wrenches they have, either. Guns are tools, and sometimes objects of collection, sometimes heirlooms, sometimes wall decorations. So a person might say: “We have around thirty guns” and be pretty close to right. Two-three carry pistols per family member, rimfire rifles and pistols for plinking, shotguns for defense and sport and hunting, rifles for varmints and for deer, and another for unbidden 3am guests. Oh, and that heirloom gallery rifle, and great-grandma’s purse revolver that’s so old it has no serial number. And great-grandpa’s WW2 bringbacks. “I think that’s it.” So all thirty guns get turned in to the government, right?
If that family has only an approximate idea of how many guns they have, government officials are unlikely to know the true number with any greater accuracy. If the officials are convinced that more guns are on hand than the people actually have, how are the victims to cough up the balance or prove the unprovable? During WW2, occupying armies would check local gun registries and shoot those who couldn’t produce everything listed. A gun being lost or destroyed years prior was no excuse.
Or the government record might indicate thirty and the reality is thirty six. Now the officials have to worry about a trained group of people who have a legitimate gripe and some weapons still on hand. Even if they get all guns currently owned, more may be manufactured, bought, traded or stolen from official users. As a result, they forever have to worry about competent and motivated insurgents. Historically, such problem was solved with executions or imprisonment of the newly disarmed.
With those two options, gunowners cannot afford to give up anything at all — to do otherwise would be to condemn themselves and their whole families to immediate and dire peril. Both sides know it, and government bullies dare not deal a small injury to their constituents…some hold out for the opportunity to strike big, others try to encroach by degrees. In the 1930s Europe, encroachment by degrees took several years, culminating in mass murder. In Venezuela, more recently, the transition from gun confiscation to mass murder of dissenters took only a few weeks.
If it comes a time to where you need to make a decision on giving up your weapons, in reality that decision was just made for you and it’s time to use those weapons to fight for your freedom
The decision should be made a long time before then. Why let the European-style socialists like Schumer and Trotsky even begin to come for your guns?
I’ll give up my weapons AFTER I’ve expended all my ammunition first.
And I have a LOT.
I have never been sure how having a communist tell us that they will kill us as soon as we are disarmed, is supposed to make us want to disarm.
Without disagreement on your larger point;
I’m going to say that most gun owners know EXACTLY how many guns they own and for most of them that number is “one”. No doubt there are many who own dozens as you describe above, but they aren’t ‘most’ and are most likely a small minority (~3% if you believe Gallup).
If most of your social circle owns dozens, congratulations! It sounds like a fun group to know. But when you discuss gun politics, recognize that your message needs to reach & convince those who are less knowledgeable, less enthusiastic and less engaged.
But will argue with you anyway.
Thank you for this valuable and insightful addition to the discussion. We all appreciate your thoughtful commentary.
;o)
When anyone asks, I say that I have a couple or so. Single shot shotgun and an old .22. It’s kinda strange that it took us two days to inventory and photograph those “couple or so” last month. Ain’t no one know for sure what you have but you and you may be surprised to know just what ya got.
To be honest I never discuss precise numbers in a public forum.
One, of each kind, is a good number to start with. Auto pistol, revolver, target .22lr, shotgun(s) of variety, rifles by type, including at least one each of M16-A2 semi-clone, M-14/M1A, FAL, M1G, M1Carbine. Decide which ones work best for you and get a few more of those (backup), stock significant ammo for the narrowed types. First, secure yourself water and food before deep-stocking weaponry. Guns will be available pretty easily, but food and ammo will be dear.
If I were an anti I would link to this in a minute. The picture is good- ordinary, nontypical person owns a bunch of guns. But the commentary- a gun is not a wrench or a fork.
First, most gun owners have one, maybe three. Most people don’t even have the space to store an arsenal of guns (or skis, or tennis racquets, or golf clubs, or anything else) like this.
Also, “Most gun owners have $ 15,000 worth of deadly toys they don’t even know about” sounds like something our enemies might say. It certainly doesn’t make us seem like ordinary people, who will either say (if a gun owner) “I know exactly how many guns I have and exactly where they are”, or (if not a gun owner) “A gun is an important and dangerous thing, what kind of person has one- never mind 30- and doesn’t even know how many? What kind of person leaves guns around not knowing where they are? So much for this “Responsible gun owners” thing they always talk about”.
It certainly fits well with the “Nobody needs” trope. Expect to see this or something like it in a Bradyorg document soon, using our own propaganda against us.
Lot’s of people can’t tell you exactly how many they have, who cares, but they for darn sure know where they all are. And that’s what really matters, isn’t it?
Like the old Chinese saying, if you don’t ask me, I know where they all are, but if you ask me, I don’t.
And – it’s not a “bill of needs” its a Bill of Rights. Big difference.
So in my meander around the web today I read the following question in a comment section of a left wing paper. “Is it possible to reeducate SURVIVING gun owners after we confiscate?” They ARE going to try this. They are going to try this now. The left thinks they are storming the winter palace. They WILL take the guns if they can. They mean to kill anyone that resists. Then they plan on sending all of us camping. Surrender is not an option.
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