I don't know. I wish I could answer that question. I started this thread You can have my guns when you pry them from my cold, dead hands...or not. to answer that very question.

Unfortunately, it raised more questions than answers...Here is what I have figured out so far...

1. I can't fight off a SWAT team. So if the gov't wants to take them, they can...
2. The blueprint for confiscation is already in place, with precedents.
3. The promises of our officials and our inaliable rights go out the window if martial law is declared, or a national emergency, or any other catch-phrase they want to use.
4. The second that the gov't gained access to weaponry that was too sophisticated or lethal for civilian use, we became 'subjects'.
5. It will probably happen in our lifetime, and I don't think there is a dang thing we can do about it.
6. Any armed resistance would be passed off as crack pots/Keresh/Waco type incidents and would be a rallying point for the Brady Bunch.
7. I don't believe there will be much resistance, because it will happen on a 'local'/temporary scale, and before we knew it wasn't local, or temporary, we would be disarmed.
8. Much like the smoking ban, where it was tried 12 or 13 times, and struck down easily every time, until everybody assumed it would get struck down and stopped paying attention...Then it passed.
9. A Representative form of government has outlived it's usefullness. The reason we went to a representative based gov't was because towns got too big for town meetings. People lived too far away to communicate/travel to vote on issues. Technology has put us all a few keystrokes away.
10. A gov't big enough to give you what you want is big enough to take it away.
11. The ban will probably start with ammo, in the form of restrictions that make it cost prohibitive to purchase. Either by regulating primers and gunpowder as Hazmat, or serialization. Along with higher taxes on ammo.


My solution...get out and vote, put the strongest constitutionalists into power. Work to overturn 'common sense gun laws', because we have to start eroding the traction and getting rid of the precedents that they have already set. Inform as many people as we can about these types of illegal activity by our own gov't. Press our politicians to follow up with these investigations.

My best solution is the following, and it would take work, time, and organization, but here it goes...
If you see an anti/propaganda type show, jot down the commercials that played on air, make a list of these companies, and write to those companies explaining why you will no longer purchase their products.

That's the best I have so far. And unfortunately, during a local crisis or emergency, I'm afraid none of it will be effective.

    The Ron Paul's and the democrats must realize pulling our troops out would be catastrophic. There comes a time when everybody must realize that we cannot be either “isolationists” or “independent” of the rest of the world.  Other parts of the world, especially the Middle East, Venezeula, etc have access to the most important resource in the world. Our production of oil, while once one of the largest in the world, peaked in the 1970’s. When the rest of the world’s production peaks, as it will, the country that controls such nations as Iraq will be in decidely better shape. 
    Now Ron Paul does have it right on some points. We were NOT told the real reasons for going to war. We were NOT told why we were occupying the country. But, even though the government chose not to tell us those reasons, it is not hard to deduce. 
    The world is running out of easy, ’sweet’ oil (low in sulphur content that is in a geographically easy place to access and transport). When this happens, production will begin to fall off(not run out, but decline).  With a decline in production and a continued increase in consumption, prices will go sky high and will probably lead to shortages.  
    So, we just drive less, right?  Unfortunately, that won't work.  Our food is all transported by trucks, our crops our produced with the aid of tractors and fertilizers, most of our goods are plastic based.  Our economy is literally and entirely based on oil and economic growth.  We don't have to run out of oil for this to be an issue, we just have to have a difference between supply and demand.  Remember the 70's when OPEC decided to hold out on oil?  There were lines at every gas station, with prices soaring to the $1.60's(Yeah, I know, we all wish we could pay under $2 a gallon today).  And, that was only a 3% difference.  When oil peaks, the difference will be about 3% per year, every year, until it becomes no longer cost and net-energy effective to continue drilling.    
    That is why we must keep a strong foreign presence. That is why we need a strong military, and that is why we can’t withdraw into ourselves. We don’t produce enough, we consume too much, and the only way to offset that is to maintain a strong foreign presence.

Thanks to all of our service members and veterans.  God bless you and we appreciate everything you've done for us.  I normally don't post links or forward e-mails, but I guess I will be guilty on both counts this time.  I recieved this link from a friend and it's a video; entitled "if I die before you wake" written by some of our troops in Iraq.  Speaking as somebody that spent some time over there, this IS how most of us feel about the war-Regardless of what the media says...God Bless America.  And on this upcoming Veterans Day, try to take a moment out of you day to remember, honor and recognize those that are putting their lives on the line for our protection.  A quick prayer, a small note to a soldier oversees...(you have no idea how much that brightens our day)...

http://www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm

    So many people we hear from say they are against the war, but when you ask them why, a suprisingly large percentage of them freeze up.  They don't know why.  They re-utter the things they have half heard or think they are supposed to say...I don't think most people are against the war.  I don't think most people are against the soldiers, but I do think a lot of people are against the way we are fighting the war.  'They' say we can't win this war.  
    I know we can.  I was on an aircraft carrier for over 4 years.  My ship had more fire power on it than the entire country of Iraq, and that's not even counting our Battle Group.  We can win this war.  We have to win this war.  Unfortunately, we are allowing the news media to tell us 'how' we can fight this war.  When our leadership is more worried about media spin than attacking our enemies, it ties our soldiers hands behind their back and we end up fighting a reactive war rather than a proactive one.  To all the main stream media...Let us fight this war the way we need to fight it, the way we did the first time...
    We should be in Iraq.  We have to be in Iraq, and not only because of 9/11, but because Iraq broke the rules.  When we stopped bombing in Desert Storm, Iraq agreed to some very simple guidelines.  They didn't follow through and unfortunately the Clinton administration didn't follow up.
    If we leave now, we would be sending a horrible signal to those that want to take our lives; either literally or figuratively through terror.  That signal..."Harass the troops long enough, get the media involved, hold out long enough, and eventually the United States will leave us alone."  If we withdraw from Iraq without completely winning, we will be fighting this war on Main Street in every town and city in this country.