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Likelihood of gun confiscation during martial law

29K views 129 replies 75 participants last post by  Lono 
#1 ·
Just wanted to hear some of you thoughts on the possibility of gun confiscation if/but more likely when martial law is declared for any number of reasons ["Terrorist" attack, economic collapse, etc]
 
#7 ·
Does state law supercede Federal mandate, under FEDERAL martial law?? just wondering how it works in the US!! Its great if you live in a state that has these laws, but if the FED can just come and decide "no, too bad" that kinda sucks.

Up here in canada, if martial law was declared, in a SHTF event, I'm sure we would loose our guns. we dont have the equivalent of a constitutional guarantee to bear arms. Or maybe not, we actually have a higher gun ownership per capita than you guys, so it might be tough to enforce here.
 
#5 ·
I think it's pretty likely the way things are going. That said, good luck enforcing it. Especially considering how preoccupied law enforcement will be with other aspects in a disaster/martial law scenario. I think that the Katrina precedence came from property owners actively defending and inadvertently engaging authorities and from a fringe group shooting at helicopters etc. Anyway, I certainly hope we don't go down that road.

It's worse here in Canada since everything is severely registered and tracked.

Here is an interesting article from the Toronto Star (which you may have seen): The cops came and took my gun
 
#6 ·
If your worried about that, maybe you need to vote a little different in the next elections? Or at the very least, help get some pro-gun people in office.

After the fiasco that happened in new orleans, a lot of states passed laws forbidding the confiscation of firearms. I think Texas was one of the states that passed such a law.

If nothing else, approach your city council and ask them to pass a resolution that would prohibit gun confiscations. If they refuse, then you know who to vote out of office.
 
#10 ·
Well if it comes down to martial law, even your food or water could be confiscated if they actually wanted. Legally? Perhaps not; but anyone with any knowledge or experience of LE or military in this type of situation should understand there are rogue groups or units of people who will abuse their powers.

This occurs in every conflict...

Like your food preps or anything else, be prepared to hide them in a secure local.
 
#55 ·
Legally for sure. Go take a look at some of the executive orders that Clinton passed while in office. They can take your food, water, fuel or anything else they deem necessary. They can also force you to do unpaid labor if they feel it necessary. I was outraged when I read them, but it never made the news or got out into the public. My source was whitehouse.gov. I don't remember the numbers but I sure wish I did.
 
#22 · (Edited)
#19 ·
The news and communication aspect of SHTF has always been paramount in my mind.
As a well rounded prepper, I just don't understand why people ALWAYS overlook the simplicity & battery-free aspect of crystal radios for news.
Even a kid can build one, they are cheap to build and maintenance free.
http://www.areyougame.com/interact/item.asp?itemno=PS02012
There are many sources of these kits on the web, as well as plans for making them from junk in your garage & toolboxes.
 
#31 ·
It is very common during martial law for firearms to be confiscated.

Commonly those in charge during periods of martial law are not the elected officials, they are not familiar with civilian law, nor do they care about civilian law.

Martial law is not civilian law.

Legislators can pass anything they wish during the peace and calm.

When tanks are in the streets and machine gun nests are on every street corner, the field commander will make the laws. I assure you that regardless of who that guy is, he does not want civilian yahoos to be armed.

Martial law will include the confiscation of firearms [regardless of your constitution or state laws].
 
#74 ·
Ya I've never been through it, but my father told me all about what it was like. Back in the day, the seperatist movement here in canada got all tough, and kidnaped a british politician, and set off some bombs. The Canadian Government enacted the War Measures Act, which in effect is Martial law, although in that circumstance the army defered to the civilian authorities.

He told me it was pretty crazy, 8 pm curfew, 5 man teams on every corner with weapons ready, they detained something like 1000 people with no grounds ( only 62 were not released ) troop carriers rolling through downtown montreal loaded with troops. I dont think they tried to confiscate Guns, but the more I think about it, I think it would have been impossible to even try.

I hope none of us have to ever go through that, for any amount of time.
 
#32 ·
Well of all the things wrong in the Detroit Metro area, i wouldn't want to be the poor schmuck being told to go to the east side of Detroit and start confiscating the guns. I would probably only make it about 25 yards before being shot multiple times from multiple angles. Hey look at that i finally had something positive to say about the area. :) Who woulda thought that?!
 
#33 ·
The ramifications of confiscating privately owned firearms are too great for any politician to allow.
With that said, counties, cities, or just plain old police, may and have taken it into their heads that they have the right to confiscate weapons in certain times (ie. Katrina).
In these times, handling an illegal order is a tough call. Do you protect your property from police and risk spending years in jail until your appeals can be heard and your case over turned, or do you give up your only source of protection?
I say, you keep a stash of firearms, and if an illegal seizure takes place all they get is your shot gun and maybe one hand gun.
 
#34 ·
As a few others have already pointed out, gun confiscation has already happened with Katrina, (even though it was illegal) and I have no doubt, sooner or later, when the opportunity arises again, it'll happen again. Certain politicians and others have been pushing the anti-gun rhetoric over the past few decades, and this has led to society in general becoming more and more used to that way of thinking. (I think we can also thank the liberal mainstream media for much of this) This is now the direction many citizens want our country's gun laws to take. I really believe this is a PLANNED, gradual change. As the anti-gun agenda is pushed more and more over a long period of time, peoples attitudes, thoughts and what they see as normal or expected has also made a gradual shift. I think many of the powers that be are just waiting for the opportunity (excuse) to do this more and more. And if that happens, even occasionally, within a couple generations gun confiscation could become a normal thing.

Well, with all that said, I don't see many members of this group letting that happen (at least to them).
 
#42 ·
Not sure how much the law that Pres. Bush signed after Katrina will help us, but here's the Wikipedia article for it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_Recovery_Personal_Protection_Act_of_2006

In a Martial law situation, are all rights suspended? Obviously what laws that are supposed to be followed by those in authority might not be followed, but do we have any legal precedent right now for what rights will/will not be followed in the case of Martial Law being declared?
 
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