Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell calls for Australia style gun confiscation.

Eric Swalwell (D-California) The Hill. 

A Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell has called for an Australia style gun confiscation. The Hill. In an Op-Ed in USA Today Swalwell argued for bringing back the assault weapon ban but without the grandfathering in existing weapons. Instead he would offer $1000 to buy those weapons and would prosecute those that "defy it". 

My Comment:

Well, I will give him this, he's honest. Unlike other gun control advocates, Swalwell is very open about his desire to take our guns. Most gun control advocates will desperately try to avoid the issue and will lie to your face about what they actually want to do. Their strategy is to chip away at gun rights and not go for the throat right away. 

Of course if this law were to pass the best case scenario is that nobody would turn in their weapons. The amount offered is insultingly low as most guns, accessories and ammo covered under this proposal would cost way more than $1000. With higher end rifles costing up to $2000 to $3000 alone without accessories nobody is going to take him up on his offer even if they weren't disgusted by the idea. 

There would be a lot of civil disobedience, much like the gun control laws in New York got almost zero compliance. Nobody would turn in their guns except a few people with cheap guns that are broken or otherwise useless. Everyone else would, at the very least, hide their guns. And without any real evidence that anyone has a gun there wouldn't be anyway to enforce it, short of trolling through social media or hiring informants. 

And if they did actually try to enforce it? A lot, and I mean a lot, of people would die. It would be a Ruby Ridge and Waco everyday, assuming the police and ATF were stupid enough to try. It's a cliche in the gun rights community that if they come for our guns we open fire. Some of that is big talk but some people are deadly serious about it. There would be a lot of people killed on both sides and a lot of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. Nobody should ever want that but it's a real possibility if they pass a gun confiscation bill. 

That also assumes that the cops and feds would actually try it. Cops are fairly conservative outside of the big cities and tend to support gun rights. Plus they know how dangerous trying to take someone's guns away is. I am also guessing many local sheriffs and even state governments would instruct their officers to not comply with any attempts to confiscate guns. I don't see many cops even trying to enforce such a law. 

All this assumes that passing such a law wouldn't just cause a second civil war. Gun rights supporters have long said that any gun confiscation attempt would essentially be a declaration of civil war and I don't think that's a metaphor. That would be a major escalation in the culture war and a big clue to the right that the left isn't willing to listen to reason anymore. The only way that the issue could be solved at that point is by force of arms...

That isn't likely though, not because people wouldn't do it, but because this suggestion has almost no chance of becoming law. Everyone knows what would happen if they actually tried it so even Democrats won't push for it. Even if an Australia style gun grab is their ultimate goal, they know damn well that trying it now would be a disaster. 

They also know that pushing the issue would do more than anything else to get the gun rights supporters to get out to the polls. Though gun control is popular among Democrats, it is hated by key groups that win elections, such as independents and young people. I am guessing that this is the last we will be hearing about this proposal from this congressman. More than anything else, this was probably a statement for his local constituents, not a national audience.