They really are coming for your guns. All of them.
courtesy The New Republic and Getty
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“Ban guns. All guns. Get rid of guns in homes, and on the streets, and, as much as possible, on police. Not just because of San Bernardino, or whichever mass shooting may pop up next, but also not not because of those. Don’t sort the population into those who might do something evil or foolish or self-destructive with a gun and those who surely will not. As if this could be known—as if it could be assessed without massively violating civil liberties and stigmatizing the mentally ill. Ban guns! Not just gun violence. Not just certain guns. Not just already-technically-illegal guns. All of them.” – Phoebe Maltz Bovy in It’s Time to Ban Guns. Yes, All of Them in The New Republic

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92 COMMENTS

  1. Ban on alcohol was a failure.
    Ban on illegal drugs…also a failure.
    How/why would a ban on drugs work any better? Criminals would still have guns. Gangs would still have guns.
    There would still be gun crimes.
    It would result in so many young men…mostly black and brown…getting locked up that it would be called racist…just like the drug “war”.
    Even dems/libs would get tired of all the searches that would be necessary.

    • All bans fail for the same reason — if people want something, they will try to get it.

      This is one thing the anti-abortion crowd doesn’t seem to understand. I understand their point of view — it’s murder. But so many disagree that bans don’t work, and trying to punish people for getting / doing abortions has been tried; and like every other prohibition, it failed because too many people didn’t agree.

      If hoplophobes ever got their wish and repealed the second amendment, they would just be another example of how bans don’t work unless people already reject something for personal reasons. Alcohol and tobacco consumption rises and falls for its own reasons. Banners and producers can influence Hollywood’s product placement to their heart’s content, but it has only a tenuous connection to reality. Government bans may drive use underground, but it won’t stop it.

      • If you appreciate the fact that abortion is murder, why aren’t you in the “anti-abortion crowd” as well?

        • That’s really the question. If we’d stop wasting so much time on drugs and guns, we might be able to actually do something about murder. Most of that is related to gang wars over drug territory anyway…

      • Well Felix, it’s obvious that you are not very well informed! Anti-abortion is NOT about the murder of innocent life as much as it IS about government making it legal so they can force ALL taxpayers to fund it! Sure, Christians (like me) are anti-abortion because innocent life matters, but more importantly it is because legalized abortion takes away an individual’s responsibility for not getting pregnant in the first place.

        Also, you say: ” if people want something, they will try to get it”, I say: There’s no trying about it, if people want something, they WILL get it! That’s why so many criminals have guns shortly after they’re released.

    • Ban on alcohol was a failure.
      Ban on illegal drugs…also a failure.

      Because they were criminals doing criminal things and even though it was also a crime to shoot people who tried to stop them they carried guns and shot people, cops and citizens alike, pretty much at will.

      SO what in the world makes people think that criminals supplying the demand for guns once they are prohibited, will not get guns, have guns, and USE guns to support their criminal enterprises?

      People will die for someone’s feel-good political tyranny and as usual it will NOT be the people committing the crimes.

      • The ban on murder, robbery, assault and rape isn’t working either. That’s why a ban on guns doesn’t make sense; not because the ban won’t be airtight.

      • this is not about logic….so it’s pointless to interject it into the discussion…you can’t reason with these people…

    • And imagine how boring movies would be. Jeepers, half, if not more, of all movie plots would be eliminated. Action flicks would be things of the past. Not that I go to the cinema that much in the first place. Most of the “stars” are the enemy.

    • The police would simply concentrate their attention on soft, white, middle class people. Those people are afraid to go to jail and MILLIONS of them would turn over their guns without a fight.

      Everybody says they’ll fight—but losing your cushy middle-class life over gun rights is a tough choice for a lot of settled family men.

      The government is capable of being very very dirty. When you see your gun-owning neighbor put in general population and raped repeatedly by the criminals there, people tend to think twice.

      Are some people going to resist? Yeah, probably 3% or so. But LOTS of people are going to do anything to cling to their comfortable lives.

    • Alcohol Prohibition , The Volstead Act, and the 18th Amendment was very successful. Organized crime has been a national fixture ever since.

      • TAG is just trying to get the click numbers up. She should try working on Canadian “gun culture” first, and see how that goes first.

        • And ever since going on a click hunt, they’ve been declining in viewership. There is a lesson in there, but one that I predict TTAG will not pick up on. By the time they get done chasing the shadows, most of us old timers will be gone.

  2. Yes they are !

    As evidenced by senator Feinswine in
    her Sixty Minutes interview quote, “If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban on firearms,picking up every one of them . . . Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ’em all in, I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren’t there.”

    The U S Constitution which she has sworn a oath to uphold didn’t prevent her,just the lack of votes for confiscation in the senate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffI-tWh37UY

    The senators word is worth nothing and anything she may do is planed to subvert the Constitution and the Republic and she is not alone in that.

    • And if Feinstein had been successful and the president had signed the bill, we would have turned in our guns muzzle forward, after we used up our ammunition, in Washington, DC.

    • I think you misspelled her name; Fineswine.

      The left was so close to getting everything they wanted with the Hildabeast and they lost. They are going all out to reach their goal of a socialist paradise even if it means war.

      Be Prepared !

      • Civil war is inevitable. I will not submit to Tyrannical Government. I will not surrender any weapons. I defended the Republic once and I’ll do it again.

        Registration, Confiscation, Genocide the Marxist history of the Twentieth Century. You will not get your Marxist utopia, not in America.

        • these battles have to be fought in the courts,..and the polling booth…inflammatory rhetoric is counterproductive..

        • True – those are the important battles to win. But if it comes to it, make those “turn in” lines so costly to implement that they just give up on the process.

  3. I don’t get people who want to so fundamentally change this country and it’s founding principles… it’s a big world afte all… Find somewhere that matches your personal views and go live there,

    • probably because they can’t tolerate resistance…no matter where it occurs…and their “one world” concept can’t abide that….

    • Just as Ms Bovy ignores the elephant in her diatribe (just how would she do this?), you ignore the elephant in your comment: there are a lot of people who think like her, regardless of a date on an article, and they are working like hell to get into positions of power.

  4. I wonder if Phoebe Maltz Bovy thinks so highly of her subversion of the Constitution that she is volunteering to lead the confiscation squad.

  5. Indeed, ban all guns. Make them all disappear from the face of the earth. Then we can go back to those halcyon times in human history, before firearms existed, when there was no such thing as murder.

  6. ‘Their wariness, as far as I can tell, comes from two issues… (There are other reasons as well, not least a fear of getting shot.)’

    ‘(as is my situation; I’m an American living in Canada)’

    ‘(The NRA exists!)’

  7. “Molon Labe” Come and get them. Who will be confiscating them? There are more gun owners then there is military and police combined, not just in the US but the World. 120+ million gun owners. 2017 there were over 30 million hunting licenses.

    The number of guns are over 500 million, in America. COME FIND THEM!

    • As a cop I can tell you with confidence the overwhelming majority of cops don’t want to cease people’s guns. I am pretty sure soldiers have the same mindset, actually they probably have an even greater percentage of people who will refuse, as we know some cops in some jurisdictions (CA, Seattle, Portland..) have been used to say yes to a lot of things they should have said no, and to not do anything when they should have been taking actions to protect the good people.

    • Bearing Arms website says there are 600+ million firearms and 25 trillion rounds of ammo in the hands of legal citizens.

      20 million of us Veterans. The anti-gunners, anti-U.S. Constitution you don’t have the military either.

      It’s not come and find it’s Come and Take. Molon labe.

  8. “As if this could be known”. Very good point, more of the same background check doesn’t mean you are going to read people’s mind.

    • Yes, the author seems to understand that there’s no sure way to sort those who can be trusted with guns from those who cannot.

      What she has not done is confront the question of what shall be done about those who persist in owning guns in defiance of the law, and whether those tasked with doing it will do it with or without guns. After all, if there’s no safe way to screen those who can be trusted with guns from those who cannot, there’s no way of ensuring those government enforcers can be so trusted

  9. Finished an historical account of WWI this morning. More than anything else my belief in the foolishness and evil of a state monopoly on the possession of arms was reinforced. I have long been aware of the Armenian Genocide and ethnic cleansing by the Turks. But they weren’t the only perpetrators and there were millions more victims. The civilian populations were at the mercy of the standing armies. And it only got worse in WWII. Add to this what happened in Cambodia and Rwanda. The 2nd Amendment was written over two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, anybody who suggests it to be obsolete, is seriously divorced from reality.

  10. And do they think all gun owners will line up like sheep and turn in their firearms ? Some probably will but it will be very few.

  11. Is she willing to stack up on my front door to come collect them? Still, I think this is a deception on her part. It’s convenient she writes an article now about banning guns in America, while she lives in Toronto, where they’re currently considering banning hand guns. I think that’s her true agenda. Also- it’s another anti-gun media piece without a comment section. Seems like that format of propagandizing this issue has become the norm.

  12. “As if this could be known—as if it could be assessed without massively violating civil liberties and stigmatizing the mentally ill. Ban guns!”

    How can anyone, even a rabid anti, denounce violating civil liberties and call for the violation of civil liberties in consecutive sentences? Talk about obtuse.

  13. These liberal gun banners are living in dreamland. I live in the real world. Whatever legislation is enacted, do these people really believe gun owners are going to turn in their guns?. Do you really think police are going to come to peoples houses to confiscate firearms, Maybe at first, but not after about the 100th gun battle. There are some things worth dying for. Unlike Sen. Feinstein, to some of us who took an oath, it actually means something and we keep our word. The 2nd amendment is the only one that actually keeps America free, without it the rest are just words.

  14. “What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?”

    — Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

    Maybe we’re going to find out. Maybe we will be better than the Russians.

    • Something tells me are going to find out…after another false flag or 2, they’ll have enough emotion on their side to make a final push for gun confiscation.

  15. … as if it could be assessed without massively violating civil liberties and stigmatizing the mentally ill.

    But somehow it IS okay to stigmatize firearm owners. Got it.

  16. Today would be a bad day to come for my guns. It’s my birthday and we are having a shutzenfest out here. Party starts at 15.00.

    • Having a blast. The kids are breaking out their night visions. My right wrist hurts. Ear plugs are not as good as ear muffs. An old artillery shell will explode if you drill a hole in it and soak it in gas and diesel fuel. Lazer sights did not fair any better then an experienced shooter on evening lighting. Bar-b -q more then two hogs. And don’t get old, ” cause Pops is ready to go to bed and these kids are still drinking whiskey”

  17. I think gun confiscation should start in neighborhoods which have the highest amount of gun crimes.

    So let’s start with Chicago, New Orleans, NYC, LA, Memphis, Detroit, Miami—oh hell, why am I trying to list them all? Just confiscate all firearms from all black residents of all large, mid-sized, and small cities who live in areas of high black population density.

    That’s right—-disarm the hood. And I think we should embed liberal journalists like Ms. Whatever-her-name-is with them. Let them get caught in the crossfire when gangstas and drug dealers don’t want to give up their work tools.

    If doing this doesn’t drop the firearm murder rate in the US by 51%, I’ll eat my Glock.

  18. Well, what with her doctorate in French and French Studies and her vantage point a living and writing as expatriate in Toronto, why shouldn’t we consider her opinion on America and Constitutional rights?

    Anyway, obviously this is just a red meat article intended to rile TTAG readers up. It’s bottom feeder quality, New TTAG.

  19. Hey, Phoebe:

    Know how your right to babble inane nonsense is protected?
    Know how your personal safety bubble is kept intact?
    Know how your right to vote, worship, associate, and generally pursue the blessings of liberty is preserved?

    By people with guns who can stop large aggressors from using superior size and strength against you.
    By people with guns who can stop mobs from assaulting you.
    By people with guns who believe in life, liberty and your personal rights.

    How about you believe in their rights too?

    • …..and it always seems to work…still,..better to speak out than not respond…they need to know just how much their views are opposed…and by how many…..

  20. Yeah, right, moron!!! Just try and see what happens! Better bring a lot of body bags for yourself and your “friends”!!!

  21. So let me get this straight:

    We need to massively violate civil rights so that we don’t have to massively violate civil rights?

    Honey, didn’t you hear the announcement about NOT eating the brown acid?

  22. I admit, I was fooled by the clickbait. A bit peeved at this point. This is from a 2015 article in a Canadian magazine. Old opinions don’t count much, unless they are revisited and made valid again, not to mention this is in Canada.

    • Oh most of us know however Leftards pretend such a thing doesn’t exist ,for example Bump Stock Bans.

    • Most of us know. Problem is that some of us don’t understand what it means. Banning certain article like bump stock and calling it contraband from now on is not ex post facto.

  23. The one universal constant in the world throughout history is that a tyrannical government coming into power always first disarms the citizens of that country or kingdom. Whether it swords, spears, muskets or “assault weapons” those in power don’t want anyone else to have the capacity of resisting their tyranny.

  24. Banning guns to stop murders is even stupider than banning all cars to stop drunk driving.
    Why is it even stupider than banning all cars?
    1) At least a ban on cars (ridiculous as it would be!) could be enforced, because cars are a lot harder to hide than guns (especially when they’re driving down a public road, and cars are useless unless you drive them).
    2) Even if a ban on guns were 100% successful (which is impossible, as criminals would keep their guns!), murderers would still find ways to kill people, just as they have done for thousands of years, ever since Cain killed Abel. Drunk drivers, however, would be a lot less dangerous to OTHERS if they were pedaling on bicycles, LOL.

    P.S.: In case anyone missed my point, I’m not proposing to ban cars, just showing how silly the idea is to ban a legal activity like car ownership or gun ownership in order to “prevent” an illegal activity like drunk driving or murder.

    • How about banning forks, a million+ people a year die from heart disease and diabetes. Compared to the 8,000 legitimate murders caused by guns. That is when you subtract the suicides, justified cop shootings, accidents, and justifiable self defense. Of the 8,000 gun related deaths 90% of them are gang on gang, and what’s so wrong about letting that continue? And the rest approximately 700 to 800 murders committed per year based on a population of 325+ million in this country is an infantizmol amount. Less than 1/ 1000th of 1%. And most of those could easily be committed by some other means. Knifes, clubs, fists, feet etc.

  25. yes they want our guns

    all of them

    they wont stop trying until they succeed

    oh yeah and we now know that they hate us

    its not a bug its a feature of the trump era

    all the masks are off now

    everybody knows whos who

    all the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place

    civil war 2.0 is as good a working title for it as any at this point in time

    one way or the other it begins in earnest november 4

    • They, (whoever that is) don’t want your guns. That’s BS. They, (whoever that is) just want you to believe they want your guns to make you a paranoid neurotic. There’s just too much money to be made keeping the gun laws as they are. They are I assume you mean the Feds in DC, they’re all making way too much money whether they’re for or against guns. How do you think the average Senators in DC are elected as a millionaire and after 4 years in office is a multi-millionaire. All accomplished on $170,000 per year before expenses? Take for example your ex President Obama. He came into office with a personal wealth of approximately $1.8 million dollars. When he left office 8 years his verified wealth was $48 million dollars. All that on $400,000 per year salary? You do the math. He was Soros and Bloomberg’s boy, and they paid him handsomely for his loyalty to their cause. Trump is in the pocket of the Gun and Ammunition manufacturers and the NRA. Which I’m sure is paying equally as handsomely. Haven’t you figured out their game yet? The last un-corrupt President was Dwight Eisenhower.

    • Oh, and if there is a “Civil War 2.0” I sure as hell don’t want you on my side. And what is the significance of Nov. 4th?

  26. It’s foolish to even say that. Until they take the violent nature out of humans, there will always be weapons.
    Ignorant and simplistic notion to ban guns. Banning guns would lead to civil disobedience of the law. I know I’d say “eat shit” to the law if they made it. Come take it!

  27. not unlike your average shark they smell blood in the water:

    “Smash Racism DC, issued a threatening tweet afterwards:

    “This is a message to Ted Cruz, Bret Kavanaugh, Donald Trump and the rest of the racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic right-wing scum: You are not safe. We will find you. We will expose you. We will take from you the peace you have taken from so many others.””

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-25/over-120-anti-kavanaugh-protesters-arrested-capitol-hill-resistance-activates

    this is serious serious stuff here

    40 days until civil war 2.0

    doesnt matter who wins or loses on nov 3

    its starts nov 4

    dont fail to be ready

  28. We need Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court to prevent a post-Trump, Marxist regime, perhaps one presided by Crooked Hillary, Crazy Bernie or Mau Mau Michelle (Obama) from banning all guns from the law abiding, while running guns to the drug cartels and local drug gangs. (the illegals and “homies” who vote, vote DemoRat)

  29. Fake news all published to elicit the response they’re getting. It amazes me that people still get all shook up and emotional when they read this type of tripe journalism. Okay, so they ban guns, all guns. How are you going to handle that? Oh, the next thing out of your pie-hole is some cute saying such as “molon labe”, or some other equally ridiculous statement as “They’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands”. When in reality most of you will hand the guns over to the authorities like the good little sheep that you are. What ARMY of people do you suppose they’re going to use to carry out this massive collection of an estimated 300+ million guns in this country that would take 20+ years to accomplish? Hmmmm, never thought of that did you? And lastly, the easiest and most justified portion of the population to disarm will be the “gang members” and criminals that everyone fears will still have guns when those big bad meany federal agents take your guns. With carte blanche, the authorities will sweep the neighborhoods of known gang activity first. They’re not now, and never will into the distant future, ban guns. Those true criminals in DC won’t allow it. THEY SIMPLY MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY WITH THE LAWS AS THEY ARE TO GIVE UP THE CASH COW OF LEGAL GUN OWNERSHIP IN THIS COUNTRY. Get over it already….

    • Been a long time since I encountered someone up their own backside as far as you are. Combining your know-it-allness (sic) with that fundamentally flawed perception of people that you exhibit makes for a somewhat interesting perusal of your comments.

      Your statement, “They…don’t want your guns,” is a fallacious utterance spouted unremittingly by the Left and the otherwise ignorant, and it is belied by history itself. There are “states” within this once-great Republic that if not for the courts (and the NRA) would have all but stripped their citizens of private firearm ownership. To say otherwise is either a lie or something born out of complete ignorance. The record on this is really quite clear. You cite money as the basis for your opinion, but the tobacco industry was a much more lucrative “cash cow” than guns ever were; not gone, but severly diminished. That one either slips your mind or you’re being outright disingenuous.

      You mock the phrase “Molon labe” as being “ridiculous,” but it clearly pales in comparison to, “They (we) don’t want your guns.”

      By the way, unless it is some newly derived pshco-babble word relating to ‘infants’ and ‘izmols’ (and I don’t know what the hell an ‘izmol’ is), there is no such word as “infantizmol.” I will hazard a wild guess that you meant “infinitesimal.” And, “knifes” is not a noun, and it is NOT the plural of “knife.” There is more, but…….

  30. I think we should start class action suits against all politicians that do not hold true to their oath of office…

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