A year before Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, the German Interior Minister directed that gun registration records be made secure to keep them from falling “into the hands of radical elements.” His efforts proved futile: the records fell into the hands of the Nazi government, which used them to disarm its political enemies and the Jews. By 1938, the Nazis had deprived Jews of the rights of citizenship and were ratcheting up measures to strip them of their assets – including the means to defend themselves. The horrific consequences have names etched in our consciousness: the Night of Broken Glass and the Holocaust.
Countless books have been written about Hitler’s dictatorship yet have failed to mention the disarming of Jews and other enemies of the state. Stephen Halbrook fills this void with this original and eye-opening work.
Based on newly discovered documents from German archives, diaries, and newspapers of the time, Halbrook presents the hidden history of how the Third Reich made use of gun control to disarm and repress its enemies and consolidate its power.
The book covers the historical periods of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich leading up to World War II. As Americans’ right to bear arms becomes increasingly challenged, it is a caution to all who debate these issues.
As Congressman Ron Paul notes:
Stephen Halbrook’s Gun Control in the Third Reich provides a stark example of why defenders of liberty must oppose any attempts to limit our ability to defend ourselves from private and public criminals. Halbrook’s work is especially timely since so many in Washington are once again trying to convince the people they have nothing to fear from gun registration and other infringements on our Second Amendment rights.
Stephen P. Halbrook is a Research Fellow at The Independent Institute. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University and his Ph.D. in social philosophy from Florida State University. Halbrook has taught legal and political philosophy at George Mason University, Howard University, and the Tuskegee Institute. The winner of several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court on Bill of Rights guarantees, he has testified before committees in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on issues involving federalism and constitutional rights. His books have been recognized in decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts.
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