Reg:

I do respect your sensibilities here, but coming from another perspective I'll offer what little I can.

You said:

"This whole thing is a load of horrific bullshit that should not be happening and it's a god damned disgrace. Argue tax law all you want by the time we're done doing that the Browns will probably be dead. It's all dehumanizing and disgusting that this is how our government communicates with us. It is very very wrong and that...at least to me is crystal clear."

I wonder, if the Browns do indeed end up dead in this fight, how do you imagine that will go down? In any gunfight, someone ends up being the first to fire. Do you believe that the government agents will begin firing before being fired upon? Do you believe that the Browns will fail to fire upon government agents when they move in to arrest them? Are the Browns really planning to "not be arrested" or not? And if so, who is most likely to shoot first?

People who declare that they will not be arrested, when they know that people are coming to arrest them, are rightly considered dangerous by the arresting people.

It is and always has been in the nature of governments to collect taxes. That's what they do. And when people have refused to pay those taxes, governments have always had a problem with that. It's how they are.

Also, wild geese honk and hiss and chase you when you approach their eggs, and rattlesnakes bite when threatened. It is what they do.

If the CEO of GE declared tomorrow that he and his firm would no longer be paying taxes, and that they would "NOT BE ARRESTED," I do not think for a moment that certain cozy relationships between government and commerce would remain the same. Do large corporations get out of taxation through loopholes and chicanery? Undoubtedly. Is this the same as citizens declaring that they will not pay taxes, and that they furthermore will not be arrested? I don't think so.

These Browns appear to be going for martyrdom. Perhaps they feel that they have reason to do so. Perhaps they feel that after their example, people will rise up against this government & turn it into one that does not attempt to collect taxes, or at least one that turns a blind eye when citizens refuse to pay taxes. I can hardly speak for them, but if their hopes run in this direction, I think they are arrogant and foolish.

Do they deserve to be shot for being arrogant and foolish? No. (How many of us would survive in such a world?) But if in their arrogance and brinksmanship with the government they fire a weapon at an officer of the law, I just don't see how anyone can expect more out of government officers than to respond in kind.

"We're here to arrest you. Oh, you're shooting at us? Okay, you win!"

Is waiting them out really an option after thirteen years? Shall we simply "wait out" anyone who refuses to comply with the law but declares that he/she "will not be arrested"?

Do we really expect things to be otherwise?

Has taxation ever been other than at the barrel of a gun?

Herring405