Guns in the Kingdom

 I think the impression was that when the Kingdom was established and took full control, everyone everywhere would have all the guns and advanced weaponry they wanted.

Surprise!

All guns and ammo were sold by one source - Kingdom Defense (originally Daniel Defense). They had many locations throughout the South - pretty much any town with more than 1,000 people had a store. You could arrange a gun purchase online, but you had to go to the store and clear a current background check.

Background checks? Some of you familiar with the early 21s century USA may be stunned to hear that the most conservative breakaway federation installed background checks.

You had to have your Church Card, the same card that allowed you to vote and participate in many of society's activities. The saying goes, "Guns are not for atheists, communists, socialists, and the sexually deviant."

Committing any offense against the Kingdom, no matter how minor, would deny you the right to a gun. Even publicly challenging any law or edict of the Kingdom would be enough. Speaking out against any authority figure could deem you a radical.

Once the Christian Dominionists took control, they completely flipped on private citizens holding weaponry to stand against tyranny. Once in power, they were determined to stay in power.

I tried to get a gun last month. Things are getting nasty here, and I wanted to have it as a self-defense option. My application was rejected. Even with a clean Church Card, I couldn't pass the background check - my politics from before The Kingdom came were quite clear, and I had slipped up enough times to keep controversy about me alive.

I would try to get a gun through the black market, but it did not seem worth the risk of getting caught.

Crime, of a sort, had declined. Robberies and burglaries were way down. Profiling and arresting/killing innocents were way up. Despite the gun restrictions for some, many loyal Kingdomers had plenty of weaponry, and gun violence continued. Statistics were not kept (or not made public), but gun suicides and domestic violence were not unknown. Everybody knew somebody who had been involved in those kinds of incidences.

The news was filled with incidents of failed domestic terrorism. Yes, there were bad guys we had to be on guard against, but the Kingdom Knights always stopped them.

At least, that's what we were told.

This story is part of The Kingdom series, imaginary stories set in a near-future America that has been divided into several different countries.