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  • Bob A

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    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,687
    I apologise in advance for the lengthy post, but Nevertheless encourage that it be read. It is a summary of the opening chapter in Holbrook's study of gun control in the third Reich, and is more than slightly appropriate to recent events, as well as descriptive of the course of Maryland's firearms legislation.


    In the aftermath of WWI, the Weimar Republic was established, and in order to bring the country into compliance with the Treaty of Versailles, an emergency decree was issued on 14 December 1918, authorising the German states to set a deadline for the surrender of arms. In January of 1919, elections sent Friedrich Ebert of the GermanSocial Democratic Party into office as the Chancellor.

    The German Communist Party instigated an uprising, brutally suppressed by government forces and the volunteer Freikorps. As part of the suppression,a decree was issued on 13 January to provide that any and all firearms and ammunition must be surrendered immediately. Two days later, the leaders of the uprising were murdered by the Freikorps. Communists and Freikorps clashed in several cities, culminating in the Communist Spartacists attacking a Berlin police station, killing five officers. The Defense Minister issued an order specifying that anyone bearing arms against Government troops would be shot on the spot.

    In Bavaria a Freikorps General von Oven proclaimed that all weapons were to be surrendered immediately; whoever was caught with weapons in his possession would be shot on the spot. This provoked some graveyard humor since anyone attempting to surrender weapons was subject to immediate execution, making it a difficult order to comply with. Walking down the street to turn a rifle in would be cause for being shot on sight. It was suggested by a wag in the Freikorps that the citizen might tie a string to the gun and drag it down the street behind him. Of course, ignorance of the law was no excuse. (As you might expect, the Freikorps members would become the backbone of the Nazi Party.)

    The Law on the Disarmament of the People was passed on 20 August 1920, and was followed by massive police raids and house-to-house searches, in which massive numbers of weapons were confiscated. The German Communists, manipulated by Stalin's Comintern, continued to pursue violent tactics. This encouraged the growth of the emerging Nazi (National Socialist German Workers Party - Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeitspartei) Party under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

    Members of extremist parties took risks to arm themselves; the law-abiding did not. Germany was still a decade away from a Nazi takeover, though fascism was already taking hold in Italy. Communists continued raiding police stations to seize weapons. Whether or not the Communists would have taken power as in Russia, this situation illustrates why the proletariat did nothing to resist the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, as they had few if any firearms and no tradition of their use.

    As conflicts between armed radical groups continued, and the failing economic system created extensive unemployment, violence flared in 1924-5, as the opposing groups fought with what weapons were at hand; flagpoles, bicycle chains, knives, brass knuckles. Berlin banned carrying walking sticks, and banned sticks at political rallies - to no effect. Meanwhile, vaguely-understood and contradictory laws regarding firearms ownership, which were originally intended to confiscate military weapons - went back and forth in the courts. Enforcement was uneven, legal decisions were not communicated to the populace, and with no de facto right to possess arms, the police had unbridled discretion when it came to enforcing the laws concerning gun possession and ownership.

    The laws had no effect on the violence; extremists armed themselves by whatever means, legal or illegal. The street fighting continued.

    The laws remained draconian and vague, and the various German states added to the confusion by passing their own laws as well. The Law on Firearms and Ammunition, passed in 1928, focused not on stopping the violence, but on regulating the predominantly peaceable citizenry. Permits to own weapons were often racial-based, Gypsies, or people traveling like Gypsies, being a group prohibited from ownership. This opened the door to the possible demonizing of large groups, the composition of which was left to the government to determine. Licenses were required to possess firearms and ammunition, and to buy ammunition. Guns "grandfathered" into legal ownership would become useless once any ammunition the owner possessed was exhausted. "Arsenals" were forbidden, and defined as more than five firearms, or 100 rounds of ammunition. Unlawful carrying of a firearm was punishable by up to three years in prison, as was inheriting a firearm and failing to report it in a timely fashion.

    A Reich-wide firearms carry license was proposed, to ameliorate the problems of the patchwork of conflicting laws and regulations. Firearms restrictions were rooted in the desire to reduce political violence, rather than armed crime. This had no effect on the obtaining of illegal arms, but served to restrict weapons possession by the law-abiding.

    Finally in 1930, the Law for the Protction of the Republic was passed. Introducing the law,Interior Minister Carl Severing stated "The right to assembly has become the wrong of assembly, and press freedom has become press license. We cannot permit demagogues to inflame the masses further." So the rights of free speech, assembly, and possession of arms were all curtailed.

    At the end of 1931, the Weimar government authorised the German states to require registration of all firearms and to order confiscation thereof, though the proponents of the law agonised over the abuse of firearms owner lists. Attempts were made to modify the law to permit possession based on proof of reliability and need. The Law Against Unauthorised Use of Weapons was signed by Hindenburg, banning the carrying of a truncheon or stabbing weapon off one's premises, exempting police, persons with firearms licenses and hunters; it also mad it a crime to assemble in public places for political purposes. The police were given unbridled discretion in issuing permits and enforcing these laws, though in practice it became clear that the police were not neutral or apolitical in their approach to their duties.

    Arguments were made that bearing arms for self-defense should be allowed, while lawbreakers misusing a weapon should be punished. However, some thought the law too liberal, as it allowed anyone who is reliable, over 20 years old, competent, not mentally handicapped, and without a criminal record to keep an arsenal of five rifles and five firearms, and 100 rounds of ammunition. This was seen as a danger, though it was unclear how disarming persons with spotless records, and licensed hunters, would curtail violence.

    The Weimar constitution allowed for the executive issuance of emergency decrees not approved by the Reichstag. On 8 December 1931 Hindenburg decreed an amendment to the 1928 law, authorising that possession of firearms and ammunition regulated by the Law on Firearms and Ammunition, as well as of slashing and thrusting weapons (under the Law Against Unauthorised Use of Weapons) must be registered with the police authorities. It also authorised police confiscation, if the maintenance of public security and order so required. Failure to register or to surrender arms on demand, or who was found in possession thereof was subject to imprisonment for not less than three months, with no upper limit.

    In February 8, 1932, Interior Minister Groener supplemented directions to the states. The police must not cause irritation to the loyal, peaceable citizens. He admonished "I would hereby like to draw the attention of the state governments to the secure storage of the lists of persons who have registered their weapons.Precautions must be taken that these lists cannot, in local disturbances, fall into the hands of radical elements. For this purpose, it is recommended that the lists not be stored in single police precincts or at similar local places, but be secured in the custody of the respective central districts."

    The various states debated the nature and extent of the registration law and its effects, but ultimately in its final period, the Weimar Republic authorised the registration of all firearms and the confiscation of arms at the discretion of the authorities. Passed by a liberal republic, the law ensured that the police compile records of all lawful firearms acquisition (but of course, not unlawful ones) and the lawful keeping and bearing of arms was subject to police approval. Between 1918 and 1932, Germany had gone from a brutal policy that entailed immediate execution for mere possession of a firearm, to a modern, if imperfectly executed gun law.

    While taking heed of the need to ensure that registration lists not fall into the hands of extremists, the following year would see the Nazi Party in control of the republic and its lists, which would result in the disarming of groups which were in disfavor; Gypsies, Jews, Communists and eventually all those who, not being members of the Party, were considered unreliable and a danger to the State.

    All the above is a condensation of the first chaper of Stephen Halbrook's book, "Gun Control in the Third Reich." It reads like a summary of the gun laws of Maryland in most respects, to a disturbing degree.

    "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

    - George Santayana
     
    Last edited:

    Bob A

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    Nov 11, 2009
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    I fear that history will have to be repeated today in VA but pray that I am wrong..

    Thankfully, it appears that the citizenry passed along a strong message without having to punctuate it with more than words and their presence.

    We can pray that those who would work against our freedoms will take notice.
     

    Bob A

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    Nov 11, 2009
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    Thanks for the good (ominous) read, Bob.

    You're welcome, and thanks for the kind words.

    It is a hack job, just taking stuff from Halbrook, whose books on the subject all who are interested should read. While it's far from the way I'd like it to read, I rushed to get it online before today's events.

    It's uncanny to see the Weimar tactics in use a hundred years later. I kept thinking as I read the book that it seems like a training manual for the MD GA. But of course the people instigating these events have studied and learned from history; I don't know if our current legislators are that well-read, or are merely following orders from above.
     

    OLM-Medic

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    May 5, 2010
    6,588
    The only question I have is, weren't only people associated with communism disarmed? Or did it end up applying to all citizens?
     

    Bob A

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    Nov 11, 2009
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    They couldn't disarm the Communists, as they would raid police stations for arms, and of course didn't comply with registration.

    They basically disarmed the law-abiding, gradually, first taking military weapons, then going after the rest of it incrementally, a piece at a time, implementing registration as they went along. Then they started with disfavored groups like Gypsies. Eventually only Party members could get permits. (Sound familiar?)

    Once they seized the weapons from the Jews, it was time to start the looting (Kristallnacht) and sending them to camps. Possessions were forfeit to the State, borders were closed, though few countries would accept Jewish immigrants even if they could escape, unless they could bribe their way in. USA was particularly shameful in that regard, IMO.

    I'm told that Senator Tom Dodd, D-Conn, used the Weimar laws as the basis of GCA 1968.
     

    aray

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 6, 2010
    5,294
    MD -> KY
    Once they seized the weapons from the Jews, it was time to start the looting (Kristallnacht) and sending them to camps. Possessions were forfeit to the State, borders were closed, though few countries would accept Jewish immigrants even if they could escape, unless they could bribe their way in. USA was particularly shameful in that regard, IMO.

    Unfortunately that’s true, and there’s no better example than the sad saga of the SS St Louis. In May 1939, more than 900 Jews fled NAZI Germany’s persecution, seeking safety in the West. DemocRAT President Franklin D. Roosevelt denied them safe haven when they tried to dock in Miami. The ship was turned around, sent back to Europe, where hundreds of German Jews from the SS St Louis were eventually killed in the Holocaust. FDR, of course, remains a hero of the Left to this day.
     

    Blacksmith101

    Grumpy Old Man
    Jun 22, 2012
    22,154
    Five guns and 100 rounds. My dog has more than that.

    Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. Thanks for posting, OP.

    How many guns and how much ammo is the normal combat load out for a UN occupying soldier? lets see at 100 rounds per .......
     

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