by Art Merrill | TGM Correspondent
An acquaintance recently told me that some of her neighbors decline to join the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association, or any other firearms related groups, because “…they don’t want their names on any lists.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
“Mailing lists?” “No, lists of gun owners, in case guns are banned.”
While such fear is understandable, if we follow that course of action— hiding—we absolutely assure losing our right to own firearms. In failing to stand with others defending our civil rights, those neighbors who hide help promulgate potential gun bans by a phenomenon known as the “self-fulfilling prophecy” in which they create the very situation they fear and wish to avoid: “Join us to protect ourselves against anti-civil rights forces who want to ban guns.”
“I don’t want to join a group because I don’t want my name listed as a gunowner.”
“Why not?”
“Because if they ban guns, I don’t want them to come for mine.”
“But the whole point in joining with pro-civil rights groups is that government can’t ban guns if we have enough supporters to prevent it.”
“But you might lose, and I want to keep my guns.”
When the anti-civil rights forces subsequently win, by failing to add their voices in defense of their right, those fearful neighbors have contributed to losing it; their fears literally aided their foes in taking away their right. A self-fulfilling prophecy! Let’s continue to think this through, and we’ll see that the logic behind hiding from “lists” is not only detrimental, but unworkable.
OK, your name is not on a civil rights group member list. If the government bans your guns, what are you going to do? Bury them? It doesn’t matter if they are in a hole in your yard; they are still legally in your possession, and you are now a criminal. They are also in the possession of your spouse and children, if the police and courts decide so, and now your family members are criminals, too.
And what are you going to do with buried guns? You can’t use them for fear of being discovered. You can’t even talk about them for the same reason.
How do police catch a great many criminals? They easily coerce others into reporting them by promising leniency or convincing them it’s the right thing to do. Your name doesn’t have to be on a membership list for government to find out you have guns.
Your neighbors and friends and family already know it. Your daughter’s boyfriend from 10 years ago knows it.
All your exes know it. So does the guy who sold you a gun.
And, if your prohibited firearm is stolen and used in a crime and traced back to you? Busted! And, if you use your prohibited firearm to defend your family in your own home? Busted! And if your house burns and the fire investigator finds the remains of your prohibited guns? Busted! And if the gun ban required law enforcement to examine the Form 4473s of every local gun shop to determine who bought the now-prohibited firearms? Busted!
Even if you manage to keep your prohibited guns secret, you will always have to fear eventual discovery. You want to live a life of fear? (Though arguably, fearing “lists,” you already are).
Related to this illogic is the “cold, dead fingers” sentiment. It makes great speech rhetoric and bumper sticker philosophy, but that’s the end of its usefulness. Do you seriously, seriously believe that one evening after a good day’s work while you’re home watching TV from your comfy chair, you’ll answer a knock on your door to find a police officer on your step? “Mr. Jones, we got your name off a gun club list and we’ve come to see if you have any prohibited firearms.”
What are you going to do – shoot him dead on the spot? Do you imagine yourself dying heroically (criminally, actually) in a shootout with a SWAT team that comes for your guns? What if the cop on your doorstep is someone you know? What if it’s a lady government official armed with a clipboard? Reality check: no one has to physically come for your guns anyway, all they have to do is ban them. Your own fear of discovery will prohibit you from ever using them, and that is enough for the anti-civil rights advocates. Police don’t have to go door knocking; they will find most prohibited firearms in the course of conducting other duties and investigations, as they do now, and that’s enough for the anticivil rights advocates.
Listing and identifying ourselves is precisely what we must do to retain our civil rights. List me with SAF, NRA, CMP and Arizona Civil Defense League.
List me with the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association, Prescott Sportsmen’s Club and on the 4473s at my local gun shop. Get listed where you live.
Where would civil rights be today if all those who marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 refused to do so because they feared being identified? Neighbors, we’re all deeply alarmed about ceaseless attacks on our civil rights, and we need you to stand firmly with us, not hide in fear.
Hiding your guns will fail you.
Trying to hide yourself fails all of us.
