My grandfather always said the same thing. Never give the government your guns. My mother's family came from Russia and managed to get out prior to the Revolution and the first world war. It was expensive and they had to grease a lot of palms to make their escape. They talked about how the Russians had started to seize all the guns "for public safety." That is when they knew things were going to get really bad and made the decision to leave. Too many simply handed their weapons over. When confronting other family and friends about what the government was trying to do, my family heard the response, "You are crazy. That could never happen here." Sound familiar? All other members of my family never made it out and they either died in the Revolution, ended up in gulags, or died in the war.

The proudest day in my grandfather's life was the day he became an American citizen. My mother says that it was the only time she ever saw her father cry. He died as a proud American gun owner.