Cemetery, upon attending a high-end antique gun show:
One thing that annoyed me, was the sense of elitism. I’m not talking about the hoity-toitiness of balls out antique collector’s, but the sense that somehow *they’re* safe, since they’re not involved with scary *assault weapons*. Sorry to tell ya bub, they were assault weapons in their day, and if gun was to come, those $50k rifles would be heading to the smelter to become rebar.
It doesn’t matter what you shoot. The real question is whether you can be drawn away from the pack and preyed upon individually. That’s what the whole “assault weapons” business was about. Antique gun aficionados should recall that back before the last redistricting, around 2000-2002 timeframe, the GOP redistricted Congressman Joe Hoeffel out of a seat. Hoeffel was a proponent of a bill that would treat antique firearms the same as any other firearm. Let’s not also forget New York State’s attempts to do the same.
Anyone who shoots anything, that projects anything downrange at paper breaking velocities, thinks they are safe at their own peril. We are all most decidedly in this together, or our opponents will try to break us apart and kill us separately. That includes hunters too.
Divide et impera. As strategies go, it’s an oldie but a goodie.
http://www.memorableplaces.com/m1garand/joinordie.jpg
Limiting it to shooting is going a little too far. Most collectors of the variety mentioned in the link don’t shoot what they collect (would ruin the value!). Anyone collecting arms of any type – including the bladed or bludgeoning variety – will eventually be relieved of them by the state.
Historically they take longer to get to the antiquities, but they do get there eventually.
If guns were ever outlawed, antique arms would still be protected if owned by collectors. It would follow suit with a lot of other “outlawed” items like ivory, etc.
Jujube,
That’s one hell of an assumption.