Gun Control in the Third Reich By Stephen Halbrook

Gun Control in the Third Reich

The definitive yet hidden history of how the Nazi regime used gun control to disarm and repress its enemies and consolidate power.

By Stephen P. Halbrook

With all of the gun violence in recent history - Charleston, Baltimore and Chicago, to name a few - gun control is more than just a hot topic in America today. The Second Amendment - the right of the people to keep and bear arms - is key to the very foundation of our democracy. Gun control crusaders reject America's heritage of liberty as enshrined in the Second Amendment but they also ignore the lessons of history, according to GUN CONTROL IN THE THIRD REICH: Disarming the Jews and "Enemies of the State" by Stephen P. Halbrook, the first book to address the Nazi firearms laws and policies that disarmed German citizens, in particular political opponents and Jews.

Based on newly discovered secret documents from German archives, diaries, and newspaper reports, Gun Control in the Third Reich shows how disarming political opponents was a categorical imperative of the National Socialist regime. Nazi officials consolidated their power by disarming those they dubbed "enemies of the state" and ruthlessly suppressed firearm ownership by all groups the National Socialist regime disfavored.

Stephen P. Halbrook shows how Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Werner Best, Wilhelm Frick, and other members of the Nazi hierarchy were deeply involved in this process. National Socialist firearms laws and policies, together with hysteria created against Jewish firearm owners, played a key role in laying the groundwork for the eradication of German Jewry.

Gun Control in the Third Reich shows how the liberal Weimar Republic adopted Germany's first comprehensive gun control laws in 1928 and soon required registration of all firearms - followed by a campaign to confiscate unregistered guns. After taking power in 1933, the National Socialist Party seized firearms from political opponents and raided Jewish quarters. The Gestapo, the German secret police, banned independent gun clubs and denied firearm permits to Jews.

Halbrook shows how Hitler's 1938 gun control law benefitted Nazi Party members but denied firearm ownership to opponents of the National Socialist regime. Himmler decreed punishment of twenty years in a concentration camp for possession of a firearm by a Jew.

Gun Control in the Third Reich shows how the systematic disarming of Germany's Jews preceded the demolition of synagogues and businesses, and the incarcerations of Kristallnacht in November 1938. Halbrook poses crucial questions about events during World War II. Did the disarming of Germans prevent an armed partisan movement against Hitler?

Today gun control crusaders such as President Obama and Dianne Feinstein ignore the Second Amendment and exploit tragedies from Columbine to Sandy Hook to Charleston in order to promote their agenda of gun bans, restrictions, and registration regimes. Gun Control in the Third Reich provides a timely and long overdue historical perspective on the disastrous effects of disarming a population.

About the Author: Stephen P. Halbrook is a Research Fellow with the Independent Institute who has argued and won three constitutional law cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Halbrook is the author of eight books. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Florida State University and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. His popular articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, San Antonio Express-News, Environmental Forum, USA Today, and Washington Times, and he has appeared on numerous national TV/radio programs. American Spectator review.