Why are anti-gun politicians so determined to create a national gun registry and expand red flag laws? It’s not about safety. It’s about control. There is a plan, and it’s been unfolding for nearly a century.
The roots of this effort trace back to 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt capitalized on the violence of the Prohibition era to push through the National Firearms Act (NFA). Until then, gun laws were largely left to the states. But Roosevelt’s so-called New Deal for Crime introduced one of the first federal gun control laws, complete with taxation and registration. He justified it by pointing the blame at gangsters and targeting machine guns, short-barreled rifles, silencers, and even grenades. The price tag was steep at the time: $200 per registered item.
It wasn’t about crime control then, and it isn’t about safety now. The NFA was the first domino in a long line of federal and state efforts to build lists of lawful gun owners, in the hopes of ultimately disarming them. Modern-day gun control advocates have simply expanded on that same playbook. Today, they hide behind buzzwords like “universal background checks” and “extreme risk protection orders,” but the goal hasn’t changed: registration, followed by confiscation.
Every few years, Democrats and their allies in the media trot out the same tired propaganda talking points: “gun-violence,” “assault weapon,” “weapons of war,” and any other made up terms they can think of to justify tighter gun restrictions while claiming that they are trying to reduce violence. But notice the hypocrisy: they don’t really want to stop violence; they want to use it. They keep violent criminals on the streets, refuse to prosecute offenders, and then point to the resulting chaos as proof that “we need more gun laws.” Chicago is their case study. Chicago is a city with strict gun control and rampant violence. What might look like a policy failure to you, is not a failure to them. it’s the plan working as intended. Violence serves Democrats. It keeps law-abiding citizens afraid, gun-related death numbers high, and the justification for new gun laws endless.
Nowhere is this clearer than in New York. Under Governor Kathy Hochul, the state has become the blueprint for centralized gun control. She pulled background checks for firearms away from the federal NICS system and placed them under state police control, conveniently outside federal privacy protections. Then she went even further, requiring background checks for ammunition purchases. Every box of ammo you buy in New York is recorded with your home address. The state now knows exactly who owns what, and where it’s kept.
But Hochul wasn’t done. She signed a law requiring police to confiscate firearms during any domestic violence call, whether or not a crime has occurred. Discretion? Gone. Due process? Forgotten. And how would officers know which homes have guns? That’s where the registry comes in.
It’s no coincidence that these measures go hand-in-hand with red flag laws. These so-called “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” allow the government to seize firearms based on little more than an accusation. A family member, co-worker, police officer, neighbor, doctor, or even a school official can claim someone is a “threat,” and a judge can authorize confiscation, often without the accused ever being heard. In many states, the process is deliberately vague. What does it mean to “show signs of being a threat?” Who decides? Practically anyone.
New York’s results speak volumes. As of February 3, 2025, courts there had issued roughly 14,000 temporary and permanent red flag orders. That’s 14,000 instances of citizens stripped of their constitutional rights, many without due process. This is what happens when registries and red flag laws converge: a direct pipeline to the front door for state-controlled confiscation.
The playbook is simple. First, build the registry under the guise of “background checks.” Next, expand red flag laws to allow broad, anonymous accusations. Then, use both systems together to locate and seize firearms from private homes. Piece by piece, the state erodes the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, all while insisting it’s “for your safety.”
Our Founding Fathers saw this coming. That’s why they wrote the Second Amendment. It wasn’t for hunting, but for defense against exactly this kind of creeping tyranny. They understood that disarmed citizens are subjects, and armed people are free.
Gun registries and red flag laws aren’t about keeping Americans safe. They’re about keeping Americans in line. And the only way to stop that march toward confiscation is to stand firm, defend the Constitution, and never surrender the very rights that protect every other one we hold dear.
