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Herb Titus, a nationally known constitutional attorney and law professor, told WND, government's claim always is that such draconian powers will only be used "in an emergency situation."

But there are so many "emergencies," he said, that "all of our rights are in jeopardy."

"It's typical of the government to do this, typical of this age. You see the government believes it can make the decision for you better than you can make it for yourself. There's a lot of this from the Obama administration," he said.

The result? Government "as our master, rather than servant," he said.

The danger is great, he added, noting that all the major scourges around the globe - Hitler, Mao, Stalin - started with weapons confiscation from victim populations.

Mathew Staver, chairman of the public interest law firm Liberty Counsel, told WND Americans "should be shocked and rightly concerned" at attempts to ban and confiscate guns.

"This is a significant threat to our freedoms," he said. "When the government takes away the ability to defend yourself, it crosses the line."

Recorded testimonies from the NRA videos are stunning, including these statements from law-abiding residents of New Orleans who were subject to the city's "emergency" gun confiscation:

-"They didn't care what your rights were."
-"They were drawing down on ME?"
-"I thought they were going to kill me."
-"They really did a number on me," from Patty Konie, who was thrown against her kitchen wall by police officers taking her handgun.
-"You're treated like a criminal and you did nothing wrong," from Richard Styron.
-"They took something they didn't have a right to take."

NRA officials said on the organization's video that even after the danger was over, gun owners were not allowed to get their weapons back. Some had been destroyed by police officers; others were taken without an identifying receipt, so the owners had no way to prove their ownership.

Several even had original purchase receipts, but were not allowed to retrieve their guns.

As a result, many of the victims of gun confiscation reported what they called almost "religious conversions" - from being apathetic about the Second Amendment to being strong supporters. One man reported 30 participants in his latest gun training class.

Experts warn the danger is real and current. Just days ago, the United States Army general credited with "restoring" order in post-Katrina New Orleans said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel needs to ask for all the federal help he can get to fight the escalating violence in the Windy City.

Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who served as the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina in 2005, told WLS-TV in Chicago that similar efforts to those used in New Orleans are needed to restore order in Chicago.

"Well, you know, if we had a natural disaster, the mayor and the governor would be able to ask for a federal declaration and get all the government assistance to house and shelter people, and emergency power," said Honore.

"We have a similar things happening on the human capital side," he added. "That is communities that are being exploited by violence where our citizens who spent their lives in these communities are not free. That shouldn't happen in America. The mayor and governor should ask for federal assistance in all of government. I'm talking about healthcare, educational opportunities, dealing with mental health issues, after school programs, and additional police that should control our streets. This is America."

When asked by WLS if the National Guard should patrol certain streets of Chicago, Honore stopped short of endorsing the idea.

"I think that the first thing you do is have an expansion of police, bringing in other police officers from cities around Chicago and the state to control the situation and maintain control in the part of the city that has the violence. And surveillance, it's amazing what happens when you put cameras on every corner. Reinforce the liberties of the people to be able to walk the street so little girls like [15-year-old Hadiaya] Pendleton don't get shot."

What about gun confiscation?

Honore said the same measures used in New Orleans are needed in Chicago.

That's despite a murder death rate in Chicago that's greater, over the past decade, than the number of American forces who have died in Afghanistan since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. And yet the city remains one of the most difficult in the nation in which to buy or possess a firearm.

Outright gun confiscation would not be new to Chicago. In 1994, as the Chicago Tribune reported, special squads of police officers were sent to patrol the hallways and stairways at the Chicago Housing Authority's Robert Taylor Homes. Then-Mayor Richard Daley said U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen was allowing systematic, apartment-by-apartment searches by police under certain circumstances. Police Supt. Matt Rodriguez said the "mission teams" of patrol officers, detectives and gang crime specialists also were dispatched to other South Side areas.

Civil rights lawyers argued the warrantless searches and confiscations were blatantly unconstitutional.

Like Wisconsin's Sheriff Clarke, hundreds of U.S. sheriffs have said they will not participate in gun confiscation, including Collin County Sheriff Terry G. Box, who posted on Facebook, "Neither I nor any of my deputies will participate in the enforcement of laws that violate our precious constitutional rights, including our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."

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