Why Gun Confiscation
May be Good for You
By Kirby Ferris
Copyright 2009, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
Let’s take a look at the silver lining in the cloud that is gun confiscation. Try to remember: nothing is all bad.
Economics are a big consideration. Black market guns will likely be cheaper than they were at the gun shop or sporting goods store. And no more serial numbers on guns or any of that silly paperwork to fill out.
There will be a market driven “trickle down” effect on the end user’s price. To your benefit.
Doncha see? There are at least 65 million gun owners in America today. That’s probably as large a percent of the nation as ignored alcohol Prohibition. 65 million potential customers for black market guns is an awfully attractive business opportunity. And used-to-be gun owners will be seriously motivated buyers. Having someone disarm you is a little more edgy than being told you can’t have a beer. Well … that may be stretching it. But you get my point.
Since the Federal Government won’t be able to license or tax illicit guns (just like they don’t tax crack cocaine, or pot, or trailer park meth) guns will be cheaper right off the bat! Presently, gun makers have to pay a ten percent excise tax on every gun they manufacture. Not on every gun they sell … on every one they make. That cost gets passed on to you. Not so with a black market.
Remember that in 2000 a London newspaper (Jan. 16th Sunday Times of London, JPFO alert) reported that black market Berretta submachine guns (not simply semi autos) were available on the cheery British streets for a paltry $320 U.S. dollars! That same firearm, legally purchased with a Class III permit, would have cost you thousands of dollars. And that’s if you could even obtain the gun under prior law (no post 1986 machine guns). That should make a Libertarian out of anyone!
Also remember that your state and county won’t be taxing the illicit gun you buy. So what you’ve got is a product that has been unburdened of even more hidden and unhidden costs. So take at least $50 off that stuffy old pre-ban gun store counter price!
The lower day-to-day overhead of the black market gun seller also means cheaper guns to you. Have you ever owned or operated a retail store? Just opening the doors can cost a legitimate store owner hundreds of dollars a day. What with rent, insurance, utilities, a staff of sales people (and unemployment insurance for them), property taxes on inventory and fixtures, and small details like Federal Income Tax? Hey, it’s tough to make an honest living. Every single firearm in his store has to pay its way to keep his doors open.
Working out of an old Econoline van in a back alley is much, much cheaper. So you, the eager buyer, won’t have a whole added set of costs passed along to you. Let’s take at least an additional $50 off that pre-ban store counter price! (Yeah, I know you can’t put it on your credit card. There will be a few draw backs.)
But now look at this! Since all guns have been confiscated, and are illegal to own, crime has plummeted in American cities! Rodney King’s plea has come true. We CAN all just get along! So look at the silver lining in this cloud, Mister or Madam Taxpayer. You won’t have to pay for so many police officers. The guns have now been “taken out of the hands of criminals”. Why wasn’t this done earlier? If just one life had been saved it would have been worth it.
What? You say that you really don’t think it will be like that? You think there will actually have to be MORE police on the streets? Oh … to … to apprehend the illegal gun dealers? Instead of the gang bangers who don’t kill anybody any more? Okay, okay. I got it. Because guns have been “taken out of the hands of criminals”. But could maybe, possibly get back “into the hands of criminals”. Unless there are more cops.
So more cops is still a good thing. So maybe a career in Law Enforcement would be a good idea if you are a young person coming out of high school. So, you mothers and fathers out there, gun confiscation is good because it opens up another potential career for Jenny or Johnny. Especially at the Federal level. Yes, as BATFE agents! And frankly, Johnny isn’t doing so well in that computer class is he? And Jenny isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, is she? (Well, at least her teeth are straight.)
Another career that will certainly benefit from gun confiscation is being a politician! Times are getting a bit testy, aren’t they? The common folk are getting angry with politicians. All this silly “Tea Party” talk. If I was a politician I’d sure feel safer knowing that guns won’t get “into the hands of citizens”... uh, I mean criminals.
I have to watch myself. Citizens aren’t criminals unless they have guns. And criminals, we must remind ourselves (unless they are illegal aliens), are still citizens and deserve the protection of The Constitution. Right? No? Illegal aliens also deserve the protection of the Constitution? Well … okay. I guess. Aw, heck. Can’t you see I’m with you in spirit here? I’m getting all warm and fuzzy. This is becoming as clear as Obamanomics!
And now look at the potential for extra sources of income for cops, BATFE Agents (doncha love ‘em?), FBI snipers, and all those underpaid politicians. Bribes, my fellow Americans! Bribes! Since the black market in banned firearms will be so lucrative, every cop on the block, every BATFE Agent in his Darth Vader duds, every pencil necked geek politician will have lots of expendable cash to pump back into the economy.
Bribes will be good for America! No longer will BATFE agents have to rely on phony testing to entrap people to move up the ladder (watch the "Gang Movie" Trailer - purchase the DVD). Instead they can become very wealthy by simply looking the other way.
For the new financial elite, the “Bang Bang Billionaires” to make big bucks, they must, at the same time, grease the palms of the GovCrims and the appointed lackeys we’ve empowered with our confiscated taxes. Double dipping politicians will love gun prohibition.
This won’t be like booze Prohibition. BATFE agents aren’t the pure of heart “Untouchables” of Elliot Ness days. These goons (who brought you government sponsored murder at Ruby Ridge and Waco) are already corrupt beyond redemption. Any black marketeer worth his salt should be able to come to a very comfortable “understanding” with his local BATFE agent.
Hey, I forgot about the car dealers! Just like all those Cadillac Escalades sold to ghetto drug dealers, black market gun sellers will soon be looking to upgrade from that ratty old Econoline van. Gun confiscation will save the American auto industry!
And how about the Third World? Oops, I mean “developing nations”. Everyone, everywhere can make a half decent AK-47. Give the Chinese a break, willya! Sales of bootleg DVDs are dropping off. Third World nations need another source of revenue. Chinese AKs, Pakistani AKs, Cuban AKs (with a free box of cigars?), and even Somali AKs can be a terrific source of income for those beleaguered folks. Or how about an RPG to keep in your closet? Hey, in for a dime, in for a dollar, right?
Now don’t get me wrong. Those Third World folks can make ‘em, but they can’t own ‘em. That would be wrong. The United Nations wants everyone who is not a soldier or a cop disarmed. So one of the ways we can keep the poor of the world disarmed … and not quite so poor … is to have every gun they make be bought by black marketeers here in America. And then bought by Americans desperate to ease that strange discomfort of being defenseless.
Man, why the common folks just can't trust their governments is a mystery to me. Aren't Gunless People happy people? Well, I guess we could quibble about that. (watch the "Innocents Betrayed " Trailer - purchase the DVD)
Hey! Here’s a great idea! The government buys (at pre-ban market value) all the illegal guns off the Americans who buy them on the black market. And then gives the purchasers of the illicit weapons amnesty from being punished for breaking the law. (If they can do it for illegal aliens, they can do it for illicit gun purchasers, can’t they?)
That will sure keep the wheels of commerce going, won’t it? It will also help us “all get along”. And maybe we’ll have a huge wave of prosperity, like that which brought us the “dot.commers”. I’m telling you, it will work! Ban, buy back, ban, buy back. Like paying farmers to not plant crops, right?
So don’t fear firearms confiscation. Embrace it. Let’s embrace “change” just like our illustrious Irish-American President asks us to. (Hey, does anyone know where I can get some .38 ammo? Fast Eddy is back ordered, and Micky The Fish is sold out and doesn’t know when the next freighter is coming in.)
Frequent JPFO contributor and strategist, Kirby Ferris collaborated intensively with Aaron Zelman over the last two years. Ferris is now the Operations Manager of JPFO.
See all of Kirby Ferris’ articles.
© Copyright Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.