2nd Amendment and Nazi Tyranny
"The 2nd Amendment prevents tyranny—that's why the Nazis took everyone's guns"
The Facts
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The Nazis did not take everyone’s guns; they took the Jews’ guns. The 1938 German Weapons Act actually loosened gun restrictions substantially, the majority of the populace was then welcome to threaten immigrants and shopkeepers on the government’s behalf—precisely the opposite of preventing tyranny.
The Details
Gun ownership during Nazi Germany
The Nazi gun control myth crumbles under basic historical scrutiny. The 1938 German Weapons Act actually deregulated firearms for most German citizens, lowering the purchase age from 20 to 18, extending permit validity from one to three years, and completely removing permits for rifles and shotguns. Nazi Party members were explicitly exempted from most restrictions entirely. Meanwhile, gun ownership among ordinary Germans increased dramatically during the Nazi period, with the regime actively encouraging armed civilian participation in paramilitary organizations like the SA and SS. These groups functioned as the equivalent of today’s far-right nationalist militias, except with official government sanction.
Neighbors against minority neighbors
This pattern of selective disarmament reveals how authoritarians actually operate—they may not fear an armed population, but instead weaponize it to support their agenda. The Nazis understood that widespread gun ownership among their supporters would only accelerate their agenda of intimidation and violence against minorities. The guns didn’t prevent tyranny; they enabled it by putting weapons in the hands of people eager to use them against their neighbors. Inciting fear in a populace with widespread gun violence creates a need for protection—strongmen leaders step in to provide that “protection.”
Why the Nazis didn’t fear civilian revolt
The uncomfortable truth is that armed populations have historically been more likely to participate in genocide than prevent it. From the Armenian massacres in the early 1900’s to Rwanda’s machete-wielding genocide in 1994, where mothers were hacked down openly in the streets by mobs, civilians have repeatedly served authoritarian agendas rather than challenged them. The idea that individual gun ownership creates a meaningful check on tyranny ignores both the technological reality of modern warfare and the historical record of how tyranny actually takes hold, not by the unilateral conquest and subjugation by “government,” but through the gradual erosion of societal norms and, ultimately, the populace’s acceptance and enforcement of government talking points designed for the only thing authoritarians care about: maintaining power.