Russian News Outlet Pravda Prints Surprising Opinion Column Warning USA: World Russian News Outlet Pravda Prints Surprising Opinion Column Warning USA: ‘Never Give Up Your Guns' An LAPD officer stands before collected assault weapons during the LAPD Gun Buyback Program event in the Van Nuys area of north Los Angeles, on December 26, 2012. Los Angeles' no-questions-asked gun buyback event, where weapons could be exchanged for up to $200, was held five months early after the Connecticut school shooting. Gun owners could take their arms to one of two locations in return for a $100 grocery store gift card for handguns, rifles and shotguns, or a $200 card for automatic weapons. Credit: AFP/Getty Images Back in November, the Russian news outlet Pravda (formerly the official press of the USSR), surprised everyone when it published a scathing opinion column labeling President Obama a “Communist without question promoting the Communist Manifesto without calling it so.†And they appear to have done it again, this time weighing on in the gun control debate currently gripping the United States. Written by Stanislav Mishin, the opinion piece, titled “Americans, never give up your guns,†begins: These days, there are few few things to admire about the socialist, bankrupt and culturally degenerating USA, but at least so far, one thing remains: the right to bare arms and use deadly force to defend one's self and possessions. Mishin has rocked the boat before, writing in 2009 about American capitalism being “gone with a whimper.†Like the current article, it was originally published on the author's personal blog before being picked up by Pravda. By and large, he uses Russian history as a warning for what could occur in a worst-case scenario: "One of the first things [the Soviets] did was to disarm the population. From that point, mass repression, mass arrests, mass deportations, mass murder, mass starvation were all a safe game for the powers that were. The worst they had to fear was a pitchfork in the guts or a knife in the back or the occasional hunting rifle. Not much [to worry about] for soldiers. Mishin also reminds that retired military officers and other armed citizens were initially promised that if they stayed out of the way, they would be left alone. When they objected, many citizens were asked to “register their weapons†and were “promptly shot.†The article continues to examine the continuing denial of the “basic right†to self defense roughly two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union: While President Putin pushes through reforms, the local authorities, especially in our vast hinterland, do not feel they need to act like they work for the people. They do as they please, a tyrannical class who knows they have absolutely nothing to fear from a relatively unarmed population. This in turn breeds not respect but absolute contempt and often enough, criminal abuse. For those of us fighting for our traditional rights, the US 2nd Amendment is a rare light in an ever darkening room. Governments will use the excuse of trying to protect the people from maniacs and crime, but in reality, it is the bureaucrats protecting their power and position. In all cases where guns are banned, gun crime continues and often increases. As for maniacs, be it nuts with cars (NYC, Chapel Hill NC), swords (Japan), knives (China) or home made bombs (everywhere), insane people strike… The excuse that people will start shooting each other is also plain and silly. So it is our politicians saying that our society is full of incapable adolescents who can never be trusted? Then, please explain how we can trust them or the police, who themselves grew up and came from the same culture? No it is about power and a total power over the people…Do not be fooled by a belief that progressives, leftists hate guns. Oh, no, they do not. What they hate is guns in the hands of those who are not marching in lock step of their ideology. [Emphasis added] The surprising article concludes with one last warning to Americans: “…do not fall for the false promises and do not extinguish the light that is left to allow humanity a measure of self respect.†Click here to read the entire article, which originally appeared on the author's personal blog. (H/T: Gateway Pundit)