# Confiscation of weapons throughout history and reaction



## Thesemindz (Jul 12, 2007)

Hey guys and gals. I was writing a peice about the confiscation of weapons throughout history and the general reaction to it, and I was wondering if you guys could help.

My general premise is that while there have been confiscations throughout history, including Qin Shi Huangdi confiscating weapons during his reign as the first emperor of China, and the Satsuma clan confiscating weapons when they invaded Okinawa, that in the east it has been generally tolerated by the oppressed peoples to a greater degree than in the west. I attribute this to the cultural inclination towards defferance to authority in the east as opposed to challenging authority in the west. 

The problem is I'm having trouble finding any good information on how it's been handled. I know ruling authorities in the east and west have confiscated weapons throughout time, including Hitler and the modern American socialist movement, but I'm having trouble finding any kind of history or study concerning this. Now I know you guys are usually just chock full of useful information, so I thought I'd throw it out here and see if I get a bite.

Anybody got a website or book that discusses, or even better compares, weapon confiscation and banning movements worldwide? I'm not dealing solely with guns here, although that certainly applies, my greater point is that ruling authorities are always trying to sieze weapons, and that while it was generally tolerated in the east and led to a longer period of warfare where firearms weren't the dominant means of violence, it was resisted in the west and firearms were seen as implements of justice and equality and so were used more predominately on the battlefield at an earlier date, leading to less refinement in the use of other more archaich weaponry.

Hey, maybe I'm way off base too! If that's the case, tell me so so I can correct my thesis here. Either way, any info would help. Thanks alot.


-Rob


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## thardey (Jul 12, 2007)

You might be interested in a book called "The Soul of the Sword" by Robert O'Connel.

It doesn't deal with weapon confiscation per se, but it does focus of the western development of various weapons, and the mindset that led to the acceptance or criticism of each.

He deals with bows and arrows, through machine guns, from greek warships, to modern submarines, and how the people reacted to each new type of warfare. Like you mentioned, the west was about giving the underdog a chance to defend himself, and so some of the most efficient weapons were ones that involved "cheating" to some degree.

"God did not make men equal, Samuel Colt did." (popular saying, referring to the Colt .45 Peacemaker.)


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## Grenadier (Jul 13, 2007)

Gun Owners of America has listed several points:

http://gunowners.org/skeptic.htm

http://gunowners.org/sk0703.htm


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jul 13, 2007)

One thing is for sure that through time when serious weapon confiscation has happened the people whose weapons were taken away have been open to massive oppression.


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## Rich Parsons (Jul 13, 2007)

Do some searching for the Spanish occupation in the 1600's of the Phillipine Islands. They banned certain weapons from the locals in parts of the PI during that time period.


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## frank raud (Jul 20, 2007)

*'Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.*
Some guy named Mahatma Gandhi wrote this in his autobiography.


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