r/gunpolitics • u/EuphoricAd68 • 17d ago
If the U.S. Government Declared Martial Law, Could Citizens be Forced to Give Up Their Weapons?
https://prepper1cense.com/2024/12/14/if-the-u-s-government-declared-martial-law-could-citizens-be-forced-to-give-up-their-weapons/184
u/Walleyevision 17d ago
Most dystopian EOTWAWKI books/series out there don’t portray any door to door confiscation because why bother removing weapons from someone locked up in their own home? Waste of resources.
But if seen in public open carrying, or attempting to enter a FEMA camp for services/food/medical a surrender of any carried weapons is highly likely.
Basically, if you have enough food/water/meds to bug in and fend off others without calling attention to yourself you’ll likely remain armed up till some point of forced evacuation.
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u/Betterthanyou715 17d ago
So not sure if you know about the recent Helene stuff but people in east tn were none too happy with fema, also there were reports of fake fema people. I know of disaster relief efforts where they were carrying and fema wasn’t going to tell them no either.
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u/pattywhaxk 16d ago
Can confirm that in WNC a whole fire department was strapped when I went to bring supplies. The fire chief didn’t have to many kind words to say about fema.
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u/equinci_ocha 17d ago
what weapons?
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u/11teensteve 17d ago
let me guess, the old standard boat accident?
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u/D00dleB00ty 17d ago
Ironically, the time you feel it necessary to claim loss in a boating accident is exactly when you should be bearing arms in resistance.
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u/joelnicity 17d ago
If it’s time to lose em, it’s time to use em
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u/The_-_Shape 17d ago
They can't have my guns but they can have my ammo.
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u/Girafferage 17d ago
Yeah, but the boat didn't just go down, the lake exploded, so there isn't even evidence left. It was a rough day.
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u/Rugermedic 17d ago
Nah, I was in the desert and they slipped down into an abandoned mine- want to go see?
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u/Bright_Crazy1015 17d ago
Diversify the portfolio. I've got a handful out on loan to my brother and my brothers from another mother, just in case my home and shop both get hit the same day.
Gotta have at least one or two off the books.
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u/dethswatch 17d ago edited 17d ago
"..or what?"
I mean actually- seriously "or what"?
Are they going to arrest me? Search and seize what they can find (in total violation of the Const) ?
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u/Betterthanyou715 17d ago
Maybe in major cities where they could choke point resources they could try this. However, most rural places they would get lit up.
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u/splittingxheadache 16d ago
They wouldn’t be able to do this in any city at scale. They wouldn’t be able to do it in ruralia either but there’s also a degree of chokepoint there as well.
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u/DragonSurferEGO 17d ago
Could? Yes. Would? Not a chance. I don’t remember the exact study that was done after Sandy hook but it was a study on what the results of forced gun confiscation would be since the us military can’t be used on US soil. The estimate of police and national guard refusing order was something like 10% - 20% with red states and rural ways being significantly higher. The approximate death toll on enforcement was something like 50% - 60% Averaged! There are militia groups who train for just this scenario. It would be a bloodbath.
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u/DragonSurferEGO 17d ago
Also I think the scofflaw attitude would make ongoing enforcement quagmire similar to prohibition or the drug war.
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u/Thee_Sinner 17d ago
They’d fuck around for about 3 houses before word spread and they began to find out
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u/imnotabotareyou 17d ago
And this happened in Katrina?
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u/raz-0 17d ago
One of the things with Katrina was that it was a disaster and communication was severely impaired. Even so it was shut down in like three days as a genuinely bad idea that was pushing people off.
Also as an example of how it would go, they did not focus taking weapons from people who could actually fight back, but choose the less risky course of beating the shit out of elderly women and sick to take their guns.
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u/OptimusED 17d ago edited 17d ago
Yes, NOPD went into full confiscation mode and national guard followed suit. NRA filed suit for injunction but the restraining order wasn’t put in place until the next month. Katrina was wild and shouldn’t be forgotten.
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u/imnotabotareyou 17d ago
Right, nobody “found out”
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u/2017hayden 13d ago
Because they picked easy targets like old ladies and starving people. No one was knocking on the doors of the armed communities that were there and telling them to hand in their guns.
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u/thegrumpymechanic 17d ago
Social media has come a long way in 20 years.
The Revolution may not be televised, but it sure will be getting livestreamed.
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u/ChristopherRoberto 16d ago
You uh do realize they have plans to just turn off the network, right? How many boomers are left who know how to set up AX.25 over shortwave?
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u/2017hayden 13d ago
I’m Gen Z and I know how to do that. The guy that owned my parents house before they bought it was really big into radio and left a whole ass HAM radio setup in the basement. As a kid I was always fascinated either it and learned how to do most of it myself overtime. Radio is actually super fun as a hobby and you can find really nice equipment for super cheap because the people who used it died and their relatives have no friggin clue what it is.
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u/ZombieNinjaPanda 16d ago
Katrina
What year is it now and what is the general opinion of the second amendment and government?
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u/AdmanTX 17d ago
I believe this was done during hurricane Katrina. Don’t know if martial law was declared but there was gun confiscation. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y9qUxaTikuc
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u/guy99901 17d ago edited 17d ago
I personally know national guardsman who were deployed in Katrina that received those orders and promptly disregarded them. It was an illegal order that was in direct conflict to the oath they swore to the constitution. They told me police and other states guardsmen who were following those orders though.
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u/21_Mushroom_Cupcakes 17d ago
Citizens outnumber police by 2000:1. Good luck.
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u/Legionodeath 17d ago
You can't count all citizens. Most are pussies. You can't count all gun owners. Most are pussies too.
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u/Difrntthoughtpatrn 17d ago
There were 376 police at Uvalde and 1 shooter. They were willing to sit outside and listen to children scream out in pain, looking for help. 2000 to 1 is reasonable with those kind of police.
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u/CNCTEMA 17d ago
1/4 of 1% of gun owners is all it would take.
no one knows how many individual gun owners there are in the US but the number estimate ranges from 79 to 111 million individuals that own a gun in the US. 1/4 of 1% is another way of saying 25 people per 10,000. if we take the low end of that estimate, so 79 million and get 1/4 of 1% of that is still 197,500 gunmen fighting the US gov. widely distributed in every state
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u/Legionodeath 17d ago
I'm not saying it's not possible for citizens to be effective. I'm saying the mofos on this sub and other places are far more pussified than their comments would imply. I'm saying it's unlikely that the majority of citizens and gun owners would do anything other than comply. That's all.
Edit: this would become exponentially more true when the govt starts pressing on family members and friends. Being deployed and brave or home and brave is one thing. The situation changes entirely when loved ones are threatened.
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u/carlos_marcello 17d ago
Too bad 1998 of the 2000 are bootlickers and liberals that will be super happy that gun confiscation is finally happening
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u/oldtreadhead 17d ago
Nope, it would still be unconstitutional, not that it would stop any tyrannical government.
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u/TheGolfinDolfin 17d ago
I mean this is exactly why the second amendment exists, American have the right to bear arms and maintain a militia so that we can overthrow a tyrannical government full stop. It’s not about hunting or shooting as a sport, it’s to allow the populace the ability to even the playing field should it become necessary
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u/wasdie639 17d ago
Let's see, having to go door to door in a neighborhood of let's call it 250 houses where 1/3rd of them is armed and 1/5 of them would shoot at any "government official" attempting to disarm them and you have a force of 50 men, that's ~16 houses that shoot back.
How many "government officials" do you think will be left after that 250 house sweep? That's a population, say 4 to a house, 1000 people. You live in a city of 10k.
Do you see the problem here? That's assuming all of those "government officials" are stupid enough to even try. Some will be, the others will fuck off hard knowing this math.
I'm sure whatever government orders such at thing would also love Youtube and Twitter being flooded with videos of government vehicles having to destroy houses and the bodies of law abiding citizens who were made illegal entities through an unconstitutional order piling up. I'm sure the rest of the citizens of the country would also love videos of suburban houses being bombed or tanks rolling through neighborhoods.
Again. Notice any problems with this plan?
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u/WrenchRaceRepeat 17d ago
In this hypothetical situation, they could have mine..... When I'm done with them..
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u/Gwsb1 17d ago
Plastic bag, cosmoline , shovel, back yard.
Problem solved.
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u/Neanderthal86_ 17d ago
I'm waiting for some keyboard warrior to come along and tell you "if it comes to that you should use them instead, coward!"
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u/AspiringArchmage 17d ago
I mean how is a gun buried underground helping you?
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u/Icy_Custard_8410 17d ago
So sake of arguing
It’s safe for another day…while the one in your hand….
Maybe someone friend, relative , stranger can get to it some time in the future. Delayed gratification and all that
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u/AspiringArchmage 17d ago
Get it and never use it? Do what with it?
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u/Icy_Custard_8410 17d ago
That thing that floated above your head …that was the point and you missed it
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u/Neanderthal86_ 17d ago
Like I told the keyboard warriors, you go and form a capable militia when it gets to that point and I'll be there with bells on, 'til then I'll be over here stockpiling
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u/AspiringArchmage 17d ago edited 17d ago
A capable militia is a group of people ypu trust and train with where you live. I know a lot of people near me armed who I train with who have kits.
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u/Neanderthal86_ 17d ago
Must be nice. You kinda fell off at the end there, what were you trying to say? You know a lot of people with kits? I can't so much as get someone to go to the gun club with me lol
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u/AspiringArchmage 17d ago edited 17d ago
I bet I shoot more in level 4 plates and run drills than you do. Just because you don't go outside, don't assume we all don't train. Keyboard warriors? Lmao.
I can't stand people gate keeping training. Militias spring up from armed people in times of need.
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u/Neanderthal86_ 17d ago
Yeah, maybe. I dunno. It's the internet, where we can anonymously make any claim we want, right? Which is my point. Heaven forbid I say something prudent about caching supplies instead of making a completely futile lone stand, lest a bunch of assholes pretending to be Rambo come out of the woodwork
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u/Gwsb1 17d ago
Hasn't come to that has it? Don't be a jerk.
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u/Neanderthal86_ 17d ago
Huh? I'm on your side, I've said the same thing and then had basement dwellers start screeching at me what I quoted
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u/EuphoricAd68 17d ago
Many Prepper and survivalist web sites contain an abundance of material about the likelihood of gun confiscation in the aftermath of a major disaster. The general premise is that government agencies and/or military units will be going door to door after a declaration of martial law to forcibly deprive you of weapons and ammunition. You resist – you die, or end up in a prison cell on the back side of some undocumented FEMA camp in the middle of nowhere; or so the theory goes.
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u/joelnicity 17d ago
How would they have the man power or resources to do that efficiently right after a major disaster? If they started without doing it quickly, word would spread pretty fast
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u/Florida_man727 15d ago
They don't, any confiscation of that size would have to depend on bringing foreign troops into the country as "peacekeepers".
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u/turbografx 17d ago
Can American citizens be imprisoned without trial, with the loss of their property, based solely on an immutable characteristic?
You would think not, but it's happened before, so yes, I can easily jmagine them trying to force you to give up arms.
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u/panda1491 17d ago
Isn’t there a movie called “civil war” about something like this ???
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u/nimitz69 17d ago
No, it's more like the walking dead without the zombies. Think roving factions.
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u/Bright_Crazy1015 17d ago
In cities? Maybe, but it wouldn't be as straightforward as a confiscation if they were to maintain the facade of consent between govt and citizens.
If an area was declared a disaster zone in an emergency, they could demand people there be unarmed except for when in their homes. Then order an evacuation and start going door to door demanding everyone evacuate, thereby creating the circumstance that people must step into public, in a disaster area under a state of emergency order, and legally not be allowed to be armed.
With an order to evacuate, they could get some authority, be it a governor, judge, city council, whatever, to empower police to enter a home and confirm it is empty when they evacuate people, at which point they would toss in an order either via that executive, court, council, or state congress demanding the collection of firearms from homes that are made vacant due to the evacuation. For public safety, of course.
"I need to confirm this home is emoty and everyone is evacuating. Please collect and turn over any serialized firearms at this time. In the interest of public safety, we are to collect and store them until this is over." (wink wink)
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u/splittingxheadache 16d ago
It wouldn’t happen in cities either. You can barely get a cop to show up to some places in the Bronx or in West Memphis, on a good day.
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u/Evolving_Spirit123 16d ago
Go ahead and try it and a Republican will never be taken seriously again
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u/LittleLemonKenndy 16d ago
lol it's not even doable with the military, there isn't. Enough personnel, gun. Control no longer exists now that CAD is out of the box. What they'll have to do is starve you out.
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u/Florida_man727 15d ago
Some liberal think-tank did a study during the Obama administration about a total firearms ban and confiscation. They said it would be impossible even with all the National Guard, reserve, and active duty troops involved. That in order for it to be successful they would have to bring in foreign troops as "peacekeepers". The UN peacekeepers can't even pacify a third world island country like Haiti, they wouldn't have a chance in the US. The think-tank basically came to the conclusion that firearms confiscation was a pipe dream and gun control was largely a losing proposition.
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u/LittleLemonKenndy 15d ago
Which makes sense why they conclude that because tanks, jets, and so can not occupy street corners. What they'll have to do is starve us out and initially it'll be unaffordable, then a shortage and then saying "help is available but you'll to adhere to some rules first".
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u/Swimming_Coat4177 16d ago
This would be an issue in all urban areas. City police would LOVE nothing more than to take your stuff, be it voluntary or by force. They look down on “civilians”. They would love to have unfettered power after disarmament. Do you see how they conduct themselves while wearing a camera? Heck, body cams would become a thing of the past. No need for accountability if they know we can’t actually stand up to them. So yes, it COULD happen. Logistically, it would be a nightmare. Other nation’s leaders would likely applaud the idea, because they hate that part of American culture. It makes their citizens want the same rights and possibilities to stand up to them and they don’t like that thought at all.
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u/why-do_I_even_bother 17d ago
I don't know why people still don't understand that you don't have rights, you have temporary allowances that can all be undone with the magical phrase "matter of national security."
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u/koozy407 17d ago
They went door-to-door taking guns during Katrina if you think it can’t happen everywhere else you are wrong
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u/jtf71 17d ago
Some people refused to give them up and the LEO/Guard left rather then getting into a shooting match.
And with that history I think more people would fight as well. Many would die. But govt would stop trying after a number of deaths as the LEOS will refuse to try.
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u/baconatorX 17d ago
Got any links to old stories or video interviews? This is the first I've heard this and want to learn more.
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u/Difrntthoughtpatrn 17d ago
Katrina was a small area, and a large amount of citizens had left already. A large scale confiscation would never work.
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u/splittingxheadache 16d ago
The police confiscated about 552 guns during the immediate response to Katrina. Given that it’s fucking Louisiana, I don’t think that’s exactly a “successful sweeping confiscation”.
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u/Quant_Smart 17d ago
Most men have been preparing for this
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u/cokeman234 16d ago
The only weapon I own is maybe a pocket knife, my rifles are precision tools and my handguns are safety tools against intruders.
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u/steelhelix 16d ago
Extreme long-range precision hole-punching devices... just depends what I want a hole put in.
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u/SaulSmokeNMirrors 16d ago
I don't think that's part of martial law... if anything ...perhaps concealed carry permits and open carry rights would be curtailed for the duration of martial law... but cops these days will shoot on sight if they see a gun during a confrontation... so it would just be more of the same
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u/Loganthered 16d ago
It happened after Katrina. What was the results of the court cases?
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u/Florida_man727 15d ago
They got their guns back and the NOPD and the Louisiana National Guard got their dicks slapped.
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u/Loganthered 13d ago
Only after it happened. Stripping people of their ability to defend themselves can't be covered up with an apology. All the government can do is issue evacuation declarations, everyone has their own circumstances and the government can't be held liable for the choices of individuals. As long as nobody is breaking a law or hurting others they are allowed to be stupid.
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u/SniperGX1 17d ago
Those who don’t register won’t give up guns. Those that do register deserve to lose their guns. Actually those who register deserve to lose all their rights full stop.
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u/Cloak97B1 17d ago
This is happening right now. In Syeria. The terrorist rebels have checkpoints everywhere; taking all weapons from civilians...
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u/RustToRedemption 15d ago
Step 1: Take all the guns.
Step 2: Do whatever you want, you have a monopoly on violence.
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u/1Startide 16d ago
Law abiding citizens would obey the law and give up their firearms if demanded by state/federal law.
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u/ManyThingsLittleTime 17d ago
In 2006 following the confiscations after Katrina, the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act was passed which prevents federal agencies and state and local agencies that receive federal funding from confiscating legally owned and legally used firearms. They can absolutely still take illegally possessed/used firearms. And that does nothing to stop illegal orders given in the moment and so it really only allows you to sue to get your stuff back after the fact.