Lots and lots of guns available to population is the best safeguard. It's hard to build authoritarian government let alone dictatorship when so much of population is armed.
And there is no way Trump will go against gun ownership rights.
And there is no way Trump will go against gun ownership rights.
I supposed guns could be used to do that, but they really seem an inferior tool.
And that's a honest question. I don't think even guns are an answer to that. I don't know anything that works.
I mean, the erosion of civil rights in the US has gone on for some time, and the argument that guns would prevent it is constantly proved wrong. As long as there's lip service to free speech, and more importantly, the right to bear arms, it seems that all other rights can be trampled on with impunity.
For example, in 1933, after coming to power, the Nazi regime implemented firearm restrictions that disproportionately impacted political opponents, such as communists and Jewish citizens, while allowing pro-Nazi paramilitary groups to remain well-armed. Similarly, in modern autocratic states like Venezuela, the government has imposed strict gun control while arming loyalist militias. The pattern is clear: when a leader seeks to consolidate power, they often weaken the opposition’s access to weapons rather than banning them outright.
Even if large numbers of civilians were armed, that alone wouldn't be enough to stop an authoritarian shift. The U.S. military possesses overwhelming firepower, intelligence capabilities, and infrastructure to suppress resistance. If the military backed Trump fully, any opposition would likely be crushed. But more importantly, authoritarianism doesn’t usually arrive through sudden, dramatic force—it seeps in gradually. A slow erosion of rights, institutions, and norms makes it difficult for people to recognize the turning point until it’s too late. By the time armed resistance seemed justified to most, it would be disorganized, reactionary, and likely ineffective.
It's totally correct from my own life experience seeing authoritarianism built, but fortunately Trump is 78 years old and he dont have 20 years to slowly build his authoritarian regime in US.