Gun Control In Nazi-Occupied France
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 2 months ago
NRO:
Renowned Second Amendment lawyer Stephen Halbrook detailed this history in a 2012 article for the Fordham Urban Law Journal. And now, in his book Gun Control in Nazi-Occupied France, he explains how French gun policy evolved over the centuries — and the consequences it had under the Nazi-puppet Vichy regime during World War II. A sequel of sorts to Halbrook’s Gun Control in the Third Reich, the book drives home the important lessons that gun control is a key element of the oppressor’s toolkit, that guns are incredibly useful for those resisting oppression, and that even the most draconian gun-control measures are far from perfectly effective.
It cannot prove, of course — and doesn’t purport to — that a stronger French tradition of gun rights could have radically altered history, or that America’s more libertarian gun policies strike the right balance among all the relevant priorities. What it does do is force readers to entertain a simple question: When a hostile and brutal power takes over, do you want your countrymen to have guns at hand, or not? Certainly this question weighed heavily upon the minds of the American Founders, and certainly its answer counts for something.
Going into World War II, the French citizenry was not particularly well-armed. An 1834 law had banned “war” weapons, essentially restricting civilians to shotguns, hunting-caliber rifles, and some handguns. In 1935, amid violent political upheaval, the government required the registration of non-hunting guns. Meanwhile, a French hunting organization estimated that there were about 3 million hunting guns in the country in 1939, when its population was something like 40 million.
Germany occupied the northern half and Atlantic coast of France in 1940, making short work of the French armed forces and taking 2 million soldiers prisoner in the resulting armistice. In France as elsewhere, the Nazis made it a priority to disarm the population when they arrived, hanging signs threatening harsh punishment — up to and including the death penalty — for those who refused to turn in their guns.
Of course they did. Just like ISIS did when they captured new territory. All gun controllers are like Nazis and ISIS.
On September 12, 2018 at 7:06 am, ragman said:
Just like the commies will attempt to do here. If/when they get back in power they will demand registration and eventually confiscation. They have said that they will do this and we have to believe them. However, we must tell them “No not now not ever!”.
On September 12, 2018 at 8:36 am, Frank Clarke said:
@ragman:
We’ve already said that. The commies in NY and CT got an estimated 10% and 13% compliance (respectively) with their assault weapons registration and banning edicts.
https://dispatchesfromheck.blogspot.com/2015/12/heretofore-otherwise-law-abiding-gun.html
On September 12, 2018 at 11:41 am, ragman said:
I was referring to a national level, not state.
On September 12, 2018 at 12:05 pm, Gryphon said:
Ragman – I’ll bet that in a situation where there is ‘national’ Gun Registration, things will go South rapidly, and ‘compliance’ with Nationwide Bans/Registration will be nearly non-existent.
On September 13, 2018 at 6:30 am, ragman said:
Gryphon: The real questions in my simple mind are “will the PTB use the yellow sheets to track down guns and if they decide to go door-to-door exactly who will kick down the doors and confiscate the guns”. Build, purchase through private sales, do whatever you can to have some sporting equipment that is off the records. And that, of course, includes ammo and spares. These are the good old days.
On September 13, 2018 at 12:25 pm, Gryphon said:
Door-to-Door confiscations could only be done in small areas of Urban/Suburban terrain where it is possible for .gov to Concentrate Forces in sufficient numbers to overwhelm individual Resistance. Warrantless Searches of Homes in Boston after that “Bombing” would be an Example, but Note that it was not intentionally a “Gun Confiscation” exercise. The Resources to do such on even a Statewide Basis simply Don’t Exist, and very Quickly after the Objective of the .gov became Clear, they would start taking “Incoming”, and not necessarily where they were conducting Raids.
IMO, Just like on a Small Scale, such as a “SWAT Raid”, once the Perimeter comes under Fire, even by one or two ‘snipers’, the Focus of the .gov thugs will change from Offence to Panic Defense, and the Objective will be Lost.
Multiply that by 1,000 Times across the Country, add ‘retaliation’ against the local piggie’s Homes and Families, and it equals “Fail” on a grand Scale. Others have tried to “Run Some Numbers” (sorry, I didn’t keep the Links) and the Conclusion is that Every Federal, State, and Local thugpig would have to Conduct, and SURVIVE something like 800 “Raids” just to Confiscate the KNOWN numbers of semi-auto Rifles sold (since the NICS ‘registration’ system was put in place.
My Concern is that the politicians bent on Disarming the People are simply Too Stupid to understand the Fact that the Math is Against them, and that they will Order their ever-loyal ‘praetorian guards’ to Try it.