Then they can use this law to pick up any offender, at their own pace, selectively.
They make the penalties severe enough and most will turn them in on their own. The government has the ability to ruin your life without ever knocking down your door. They can make it impossible for you to have a job, borrow money, drive a car, fly somewhere or even live under the same roof as your children.
Truth is, few of us in real life are the keyboard commandos we pretend to be on anonymous internet forums. Say you're a husband and father with a good job that puts a roof over your head and food in the fridge and suddenly you're facing ten years in prison for that AR-15. Ten years that will cost you your job, your savings, your home and everything in it while leaving your family destitute and penniless. You've got a wife telling you to be sensible, not to risk everything "over that silly gun you never even shoot" and you've got Obama dangling a $500 check in your face during his great "National Assault Weapon Buyback" to take the sting off.
Yeah, lots of guys are gonna turn 'em in on their own. For those who resist, there will be "Report an illegal gun, earn $1000" commercials that will thin out the ranks even more, pitting friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor, family member against family member and even children against parents.
Those folks who think there is going to be some kind of civil war where every gun owner in America joins forces against government tyranny haven't really though it through. This isn't 1776. Those that promise "from my cold, dead hands" will find themselves dying alone and far away from each other.
And this is how it is going to go down.
You are right. Even when it came to going against their principles and voting for Romney, the vast majority of conservatives caved in and voted for him. You may have voted for him and I don't care, however, those of us who didn't, stuck to our principles, were castigated. The point is, they gave in and that was just an election.
If they couldn't stand strong then, when faced by losing all they have to hang onto an AR 15, those weapons and magazines will be given up in a heart beat.
I don't have an AR 15 and the main 3 members of my relatives know I have “some” guns but have no idea what they are because they don't care. No neighbors know much about me and certainly don't know what is in my house.
The less you talk to “friends” about what you have in any category, the better off you are.
But, again, you are right if the govn. knows you have “x” and they want it, it will be given up.
Many years ago, I worked for a company for three months in the summer. Unknown to me, that company had a retirement plan and had put money back for me in that plan. The following year when I did our tax returns, I didn't put that on there because I didn't know it.
We got a letter from the IRS and they were going to take the money out of our bank account, just like that. They didn't even ask us to send the money, they were just going to take it themselves. I called the company and sure enough I was in a retirement plan for those three months. My husband wrote a nasty letter to the IRS along with the check for the amount. We had no reason to “cheat” on that small amount and never tried to cheat but we were treated like criminals on that deal.
The govn. can destroy you whenever they want and you have no recourse. Thinking each of us is an independent person is not to realize the govn. has their heel on you all the time - they are just letting you alone but that can change instantly. I think all our guns are in jeopardy, not just the AR 15s.
And, I wish Piers Morgan were out of this country - he is just a wuss who screams a lot of liberal nonsense.
Yes, unfortunately I think that is the outcome. But it’s more fun to play Rambo or James Bond.
I don’t believe we could muster a significant number of gutsy patriots if the plan were to refuse to pay income taxes, much less organize for armed resistance. Unless the government started killing upright citizens in numbers. I think (hope) they lack the will to do that.
BTW, I noticed your home page. I have a bunch of guitars myself. But they were accumulated and played over the years rather than “collected.” I still have my first electric - a 69 Les Paul Deluxe I bought new. PM me if you’d like to chat (I’m not selling any).