I'm not yet done with the first section of the book, dealing with the Weimar Republic that was established right after WWI.

WWI left a power vacuum, with many groups trying to move into positions of power. There were multiple groups that fought gun battles in the streets, trying to consolidate power.

The Weimar Republic passed laws allowing the various "provinces" to register and seize firearms. The urbanized areas were a lot more excited about that than the rural areas were. One worry was keeping the registration records safe, so they "didn't fall into the wrong hands".

When Hitler came to power, officials of the old Weimar Republic were probably just a little regretful. The Nazis then inherited all those registration records, and the first people they disarmed were officials of the old Weimar Republic.

Overall, it's not a pretty picture: political gun battles in the streets, systematic destruction of private firearm ownership (which did nothing to quell the violence), and Bavaria actually being a Communist republic for several months.

While I'm still pretty confident in our country, I also have to realize that there is nothing magical about it that would prevent such events here given the right circumstances.

The true story of gun control in the Third Reich is much scarier then the Myth that "Hitler did it."

Please expand on that, if you feel like it.

I remember reading somewhere the Hitler ordered all guns be turned in so that their registration be checked. Unregistered guns could be turned in, registered and all firearms would be returned to their owners. The guns were returned but a while later it was said that there were error and would people please bring their guns back so that the records could be double checked and confirmed. The people did as ordered but this time no guns were returned. I wish to hell I could remember where I saw that but it was sometime in the 1960's.
Paul B.

As Denton pointed out, run registration did not begin under Hitler, but under a democratically elected Republic. At the time, it was considered one of the most enlightened, civil, progressive (in the traditional, not modern use of the word), societies in the world. It was these well meaning, good people who started down the path or registration, that lead to gun control, and enabled the world first industrial slaughter of human.

IMO, it's that fact that this process started with good intentioned people, yet ended so badly that is truly chilling.

Due to their own shortsightedness, naivety and foolish gullibility, well intentioned people were duped by the power elite's spin.

Hmmmm, what modern country does that resemble?

As antelope_sniper says, the whole registration/confiscation thing started in 1919 or so. One of the strong contributing factors was that the terms of Germany's surrender stipulated limits on arms the country could have, without distinguishing military held arms from privately held arms. Part of what they did was done because they thought they were required to.

The general picture is civil unrest, warring factions, and the government, which could not provide security, allowing or encouraging gun registration and confiscation so that individuals could not supply their own security. The warring factions completely disregarded the law, of course.

When Hitler came to power, he received lists of everyone with firearms. So one lesson there is that no matter how benign the intent, different people come to power and use things for their own purposes. I don't look on our government as particularly benign anymore. Heaven help us if they are replaced by someone much worse.

The US entry into WWI destroyed the German government and brought Hitler to power. If the US had stayed out of the war Europe would have fought to a stand still as they did before US entry and the Kaiser would have stayed in power and Hitler never would have come to power. One of the conditions for Germany's surrender was that the Kaiser abdicate his throne.

Goes to show what happens when the US meddles into other people's business. We get a second world war and gun confiscation to say nothing of millions of innocent people exterminated.

No, there is not. It could very easily happen here. The old safeguards are almost all gone.

This book ?

http://www.amazon.com/Control-Third...;keywords=Gun+Control+in+the+Third+Reich

Beat me to it..


Hello?? Sheeple??? Anybody home???


Hello??

Yes, that's the one.

I've decided to quit reading it though. It is pretty dry sledding. All the facts are there, but it's essentially a dry compilation of quotes and sources.