# A modest gun control proposal: First, confiscate all guns. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 31, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614 "2012-12-31T00:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/21 "2012-12-31T17:08:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Der Trihs** : > > Let’s compromise; you have the right to eat guns and bear an Irishman. It’ll cut down on iron deficiency, and Irishmen are pretty heavy; it’ll be hard to beat someone to death with one. Would you be allowed to concealed-carry a leprechaun? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/22 "2012-12-31T17:45:00Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How do you propose to get the bad guys to go along with the exchange program? It was staring us both in the face right there in the title: Confiscation. Not some namby-pamby, one Saturday every few years, program where grandma gets a gift card for turning in her late husband’s service revolver, but National Guardsmen going door to door searching homes. It will give the “cold, dead hands” crowd a chance to put their money where their mouths are. > [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Yes, but dropzone, forcing people to stop internet posting and replace it with writing longhand letters to the editor would keep them from saying stupid things online as easily, and yet we don’t do that either. Okay, if you’re so smart then come up with something better. Here I am offering a way for hyper-masculine men like some of our users to pack heat like movie stars on their weekly trips to Home Depot while making the rest of of a little safer. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/23 "2012-12-31T17:50:06Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Not some namby-pamby, one Saturday every few years, program where grandma gets a gift card for turning in her late husband’s service revolver, but National Guardsmen going door to door searching homes. We can also save a lot of money on all those expensive military bases by having said National Guardsmen and other military personnel just live in people’s homes. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/24 "2012-12-31T18:01:20Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Okay, if you’re so smart then come up with something better. Here I am offering a way for hyper-masculine men like some of our users to pack heat like movie stars on their weekly trips to Home Depot while making the rest of of a little safer. Since you evidently don’t understand why people own, want, or like guns, you are unlikely to develop a “solution”. You also fail to actually define a problem, much less look at any implications to said solution and/or look at the real state of the problem you previously failed to define. This is something I see quite often from gun-control advocates. I can make a better argument than they can, but don’t because I _also_ see the numerous problems with that argument. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/25 "2012-12-31T19:54:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It was staring us both in the face right there in the title: Confiscation. Not some namby-pamby, one Saturday every few years, program where grandma gets a gift card for turning in her late husband’s service revolver, but National Guardsmen going door to door searching homes. It will give the “cold, dead hands” crowd a chance to put their money where their mouths are. So gun owners are paranoid, huh? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/26 "2012-12-31T20:42:18Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It was staring us both in the face right there in the title: Confiscation. Not some namby-pamby, one Saturday every few years, program where grandma gets a gift card for turning in her late husband’s service revolver, but National Guardsmen going door to door searching homes. It will give the “cold, dead hands” crowd a chance to put their money where their mouths are. It would also be a boom for the pickaxe/shovel/lockbox industry as gun owners coast to coast bury caches of weapons, like Sarah Connor in those years between Terminator and T2. Hopefully, with less dirt falling all over the guns. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/27 "2012-12-31T21:18:42Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > We can also save a lot of money on all those expensive military bases by having said National Guardsmen and other military personnel just live in people’s homes. I can see an amendment in that, and a great way to get rid of my surplus daughters. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/28 "2012-12-31T21:19:43Z")
This proposal is either a joke, or so poorly formed as to be indistinguishable from one. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/29 "2012-12-31T21:22:59Z")
That’s pretty much what they did here, actually. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/30 "2012-12-31T21:50:17Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > But I stand behind my belief that the all-in-one cartridge and smokeless powder made it far too easy for idiots to operate guns and if we remove that from the equation we would all be safer. And the internet made it easier for them to spout silly solutions to overblown problems. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/31 "2012-12-31T22:20:06Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > National Guardsmen going door to door searching homes. It will give the “cold, dead hands” crowd a chance to put their money where their mouths are. Why would you want to give them a chance, or an excuse? One did and gave us a smoldering wreck of a federal building in Oklahoma City. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/32 "2012-12-31T23:23:13Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Since you evidently don’t understand why people own, want, or like guns, you are unlikely to develop a “solution”. Actually, I do. I grew up around guns. I like target shooting and can satisfy that desire with BB guns in my basement because I see the point, and the challenge, as consistent and accurate shooting and I don’t need a .44 Magnum to do that, especially in my basement. I don’t hunt because it leaves a frightful, smelly mess and I have a root canal and crown named after a bit of birdshot I wasn’t expecting to bite down on, though deer watching the cars go by while looking like sides of beef on stilts and Canada geese, sized for a roasting pot, taking their sweet time crossing the street because they know I can’t do anything about it make me want to show them just who is Top Predator on THIS planet. As for collecting, let’s just say that the OP speaks for itself about a guy who wants all of those guns and more but doesn’t see the fun in owning anything as ugly as a Glock. > [@Human\_Action](#): > > This proposal is either a joke, or so poorly formed as to be indistinguishable from one. It’s satire. Jokes are funny. Satire is bitter. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/33 "2012-12-31T23:46:47Z")
You know those guys who say “From my cold, dead hands”? How many of them \*actually \*mean it; would rather die than lose their AR-15? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/34 "2013-01-01T00:05:00Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > You know those guys who say “From my cold, dead hands”? How many of them \*actually \*mean it; would rather die than lose their AR-15? Even better, how many of them would kill or risk killing National Guardsmen in order to keep it? ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/35 "2013-01-01T02:44:22Z")
Um I have to butt in here, I have fired black powder rifles, smoothbores and pistols, they are scary, dangerous and unreliable IMO. The long guns are not so bad but have you ever heard the phrase “flash in the pan” that means misfire on a flintlock, misfire is very bad because black powder can burn fast, medium and slow and you have no idea which or if at all, there is a corkscrew like thingy you use to extract unfired shot from the weapon, want to try that? “going off half cocked” BP long guns have, in general, 3 hammer positions. Full cock(bang) half cock(load primer charge) and closed. Slip up unintended bang or misfire Now to the fun part I was out at the range and firing a replica Colt Navy .44 revolver. This is cap and ball meaning it uses a cap just like the ones you used as kids except the cap is enclosed in a small brass cylinder, this the primer and a .45 cal lead ball x6. Load weapon… Take a measured charge of powder, put it down cylinder, with lever attached to barrel point at face and tamp down, take .45cal ball, place over cylinder bore and use lever to force ball into said bore, if you do this right a small ring of lead appears, do this 6x, while pointing at face. Next go to half cock and put caps on all the cylinders with a little squeeze to keep em on. Ready to fire but you are covered in lead and gunpowder. Draw to full cock, squeeze trigger and pop but no bang… What are you going to do? This was a common problem in the black powder days, happened to me twice in 18 rounds Modern cased ammunition is worlds safer for everyone, stable, predictable and uniform it goes off when you want it to and mostly does not when you don’t. Modern BP guns are better but still iffy because BP is Think a bit about this **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/36 "2013-01-01T03:03:29Z")
You forgot “keep your powder dry” and “don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/37 "2013-01-01T03:13:22Z")
**Capt** , I did think about that. It’s exactly the pain in the ass I was talking about, except you left out the part where you top off each cylinder with Vaseline so stray bits of powder don’t set off all the cylinders at once. Bearing arms may be a right, but there’s no Constitutional requirement that it be easy. OTOH, you’d have to be nuts to go hunting with a flintlock, Dan’l Boone or not. That’s why I compromised with percussion caps, though the hardcore DIY survivalist may want to knap his own flints. And **Ethilrist** , I mentioned the moisture problem and that whites of their eyes thing went out of fashion with rifling—ask General Sedgewi… ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/38 "2013-01-01T03:19:21Z")
:eek: The point was if I was unclear Blackpowder is dangerous. Burns easily and unpredictable. There is also the lead thing. “don’t fire til you see the whites of their eyes” Need them close because they are not accurate, means collateral damage **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/39 "2013-01-01T03:53:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Would you be allowed to concealed-carry a leprechaun? Is that why we keep hearing a voice coming from your pants muttering something about ‘me lucky charms’? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614/40 "2013-01-01T03:55:27Z")
No less accurate than a comparable modern long gun or handgun (Sedgewick was supposedly nailed at about 1000 yards), but wives might have something to say about cans of gunpowder around the house. No worse than if you were a reloader, but with BP everybody’s a reloader. So safety is an acceptable objection. [aside] Local VFW hall had a range and a reloading station in their basement. Construction workers created a spark and had there not been serious injuries to people on the verges of my monkeysphere I’d say that hilarity ensued. Instead let’s say that the predictable ensued, but only fire. [/aside] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-gun-control-proposal-first-confiscate-all-guns/645614.md?page=3)