Gun advocates likened regulators to the Gestapo to justify arming.

Evidence

Heston used the Nazi persecution of the Jews in comparative justification for people arming themselves. He likened gun-regulation advocates to the Gestapo in terms of their pervasive dictatorial power: “I remember when European Jews feared to admit their faith. The Nazis forced them to wear six-pointed yellow stars sewn on their chests as identity badges. It worked… . … So what color star will they pin on our coats? How will the self-styled elite tag us? There may not be a Gestapo officer on every street corner yet, but the influence on our culture is just as pervasive” (Heston, 1997). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1078

Categorization

• XREF: Nazi-comparison rhetoric as advantageous comparison echoes contemporary political discourse far beyond guns — a durable pattern worth charting.