Civil Disobedience: Tens of Thousands from Connecticut Just Say No to Gun Registration

Tens of thousands of people in Connecticut have just knowingly become “criminals” under a hastily passed state law requiring the registration of certain firearms.

The law, adopted after Sandy Hook, bans the sale of any semiautomatic firearm that also has a “military feature” such as a pistol grip. Residents were told that if they register their “assault weapons” by December 31, 2013, that they’d be “allowed” to keep them.

About 50,000 residents dutifully followed the new law, standing in long lines to register their firearms.

However, officials say that this is just a small percentage and that potentially 350,000 “assault weapons” remain unregistered.

A number estimated to be anywhere from 20,000-100,000 people in Connecticut are now committing a Class D felony. Some politicians believe that people failed to register because they didn’t know about the law, while others believe this is a direct act of defiance, similar to the resistance that took place in New York last January.

“I honestly thought from my own standpoint that the vast majority would register,” said Sen. Tony Guglielmo, R-Stafford, the ranking GOP senator on the legislature’s public safety committee. “If you pass laws that people have no respect for and they don’t follow them, then you have a real problem.”

The problem could explode if Connecticut officials decide to compare the list of people who underwent background checks to buy military-style rifles in the past, to the list of those who registered in 2013. Do they still own those guns? The state might want to know.

“A lot of it is just a question to ask, and I think the firearms unit would be looking at it,” said Mike Lawlor, the state’s top official in criminal justice. “They could send them a letter.”

An aggressive hunt isn’t going to happen, Lawlor said, but even the idea of letters is a scary thought considering thousands of people are now in an uncomfortable position. At the least, the legislature should reopen the registration period this year with an outreach campaign designed to boost the numbers.

It could be a tough sell. On Thursday night, Guglielmo heard from a constituent at a meeting in Ashford, who said most of his friends with military-style rifles such as AR-15s had not come forward.

“He made the analogy to prohibition,” Guglielmo said. “I said, ‘You’re talking about civil disobedience, and he said ‘Yes.’ ”

But it’s not just refusers. A reopened registration would help many who failed to come forward out of ignorance.

“There are a lot of people, they just do not know about this law,” said Scott Wilson, president of the 12,000-member Connecticut Citizens Defense League, a Second Amendment advocacy group. “There are people finding out now after the fact.”

The law was widely covered in the media and Wilson said his group sent information to its members. But gun owners can be an independent bunch.

Guglielmo, who voted against the sweeping gun control bill, said he intends to raise the concern at the next meeting of the public safety committee. (source)

Yes, gun owners can indeed be “an independent bunch.”  That’s because we know that registration is only a step away from confiscation.

History has proven this time and time again. In a speech, Katie Worthman, who was an eyewitness to Hitler’s occupation of Austria, said:

“We also had gun registration. All the Austrian people… had guns. But the government said, ‘the guns are very dangerous. Children are playing with guns. Hunting accidents happen and we really have to have total controlled safety. And we had criminals again. And the only way that we can trace the criminal was by the serial number of the gun.’

“So we dutifully went to the police station and we registered our guns. Not long after they said, ‘No, it didn’t help. The only way that we won’t have accidents and crimes [is] you bring the guns to the police station and then we don’t have any crimes anymore and any accidents. And if you don’t do that: capital punishment.’ (source)

Those who refuse to register their weapons may one day require support from those who refuse to convict via jury nullification. There is place for everyone in this resistance.

Don’t line up like sheep marching into the slaughterhouse and voluntarily give up your rights. Real Americans refuse to comply with unconstitutional laws. We will not be disarmed.