Metaphorically speaking, if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is gradually heated, it will not perceive a danger and will be cooked to death. At times government works that way.

Despite all the dire predictions, I don’t believe that anyone will actually come to take our guns away. We wouldn’t stand for it. I’d like to think that most of our law enforcement and personnel in our all voluntary military wouldn’t want to participate in a mass confiscation anyway. All in all it’s too messy, too politically dangerous.

Instead they will first sell the idea of registering all guns and gun owners as being a ‘reasonable’ thing to do. The best way to do that, they’re already saying, is to require federal reporting for each and every legal transfer of gun ownership, public or private. Let’s call it Comprehensive Background Checks. That way the government will know who the legal gun owners are and what guns they own. What’s the harm in that, they say?

As time goes on they’ll promote the notion of a small tax on all guns as a way to verify continued legal ownership and with the proceeds to be used for some good-sounding purpose like ‘protecting the children’, ‘reducing the debt’ or perhaps to finance gun buybacks. Of course anyone with more guns than they ‘need’ (the rich) would pay much more. Those scary looking guns (a.k.a. ‘assault weapons’) would require huge tariffs.

To further encourage full registration, ammunition purchases would then be limited to only legally registered gun owners and only for the guns they own. All purchases would be verified and reported. Anyone found to be buying larger quantities than ‘reasonable’ could be investigated for possible trafficking offenses.

For compensating the public (and lawyers) for any potential negligent use of the guns owned by a registered gun owner, they will be required to obtain massive amounts of liability insurance or face revocation of their registration ‘privileges’.

To further ensure ‘gun safety’ and prevent accidental shootings law enforcement would be given the ability to enter the home of any gun owner to inspect for ‘proper storage’ of guns and ammunition. Of course while they’re there they could also detect and seize any unlicensed guns and ammo. For those who can’t provide ‘adequate’ storage, secure storage could be provided at government facilities. Failure to pay escalating storage fees would result in forfeiture.

Over time those gun and ammo taxes will be incrementally raised until it puts gun ownership beyond the financial limits of most of us non-elites. Law enforcement and elected officials would be exempt.

If gun taxes aren’t paid the legal owner will need to surrender the gun(s) or face fines and criminal prosecution, much like the IRS does for income tax scofflaws.

Just like the proverbial frog in the pot they’ll just gradually keep turning up the heat on the law abiding gun owners. The criminals and thugs of course won’t participate. That’s why it’s called gun CONTROL, not gun VIOLENCE control. Many of these ideas are already in proposed or pending legislation. At which step should responsible gun owners stand up for their rights and say “STOP!”?