Too bad the Brits did not think of registration of arms in 1775. The could have avoided Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Of course, as it were, they were out to confiscate the militia’s depot of arms anyway.... instead they could have simply rounded up the individuals patriots piecemeal.
“they could have simply rounded up the individuals patriots piecemeal.”
The identities of the Minutemen were kept secret, so the British would be unable to single all of them out. The British could not arrest all of the members of the colonial militia, because it would have meant imprisoning every able bodied teenage male and older in the colony, leaving a wrecked British economy reliant upon British-American exports and imports.