Where I live, when it was first suggested semi-automatic weapons could possibly be confiscated, our sheriff and others in neighboring communities stood together saying they flat refused to do this to law abiding citizens. Jobs be damned. I was quite proud of them. They did this publicly in an announcement at one of the court houses standing together.
Semi-auto rifles have been around since 1903. Yes, 1903, that is 121 years ago. They could even be purchased through the mail still 1968.
Yet they were only considered a problem in the 1980s when the mental institutions were closed down in the 1970s and the crazies dumped on the streets. Then the mass murder rate by crazies took off like a rocket.
Good for them. Aside from being morally correct and constitutionally correct, it's just smart. Armed citizens are not likely to approve of an attempt to forcibly disarm them.