Military Plans to Confiscate Guns From Private American Citizens-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
The White House has issued formal directives for the military to confiscate guns from private owners from November 7th to December 23rd.
The Truth:
Outdated (and false) rumors that the military plans to confiscate guns from private American citizens from 2012 and 2013 resurfaced in February 2018 amid nationwide debate over the Parkland, Florida, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The earliest version of the rumor appeared in 2012 on InfoWars, a notoriously conspiracy-minded web show hosted by Alex Jones. A summary of the show states: “St Louis City residents have been warned to not be alarmed at the sight of U.S. Army tanks rolling down residential neighborhoods after sightings of the vehicles provoked fears of martial law.” Despite those warnings, martial law was never declared and the military never planned to confiscate guns.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJY80D5eT0M[/embedyt]
Then, in January 2013, a website called Duffleblog.com — which describes itself as “a parody news organization” —picked up the story. The story appeared under the headline, “Military Drawing Up Plans for Nationwide Gun Confiscations.” In February 2018, the story appeared at Duffle Blog’s Facebook page, and many readers didn’t catch that the story was already five years old:
Duffle Blog’s disclaimer states that its content is “satirical in nature” and that “no content should be regarded as truthful.” But as is often the case with parody or satirical websites, readers often mistake them for factual reports when taken out of context on social media.
Earlier reports that the military plans to confiscate guns from private American citizens have proven false. And we weren’t able to find any evidence that the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, had changed that in any way in February 2018. That’s why we’re calling this one “fiction.”