Paranoia computer courtesy app.roll20.net

I was, and still am, a massive nerd. So one of the things I did in college was play pencil and paper role playing games with my buddies. One of our favorites was Paranoia, set in a dystopian future where a paranoid computer was constantly weeding out “communists” from the population that it believed were trying to overthrow society. You played as a “troubleshooter,” an elite member of society who attained that position by betraying your closest friends and reporting them as commies. It was a parody of Soviet life, where snitching on your neighbors was as common as standing in bread lines. I never thought we’d see that in America, but the state of New York appears to have adopted the totalitarian model as a way of life . . .

The following letter was posted by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, and appears to be genuine:

At a time when all of us are finding ourselves doing more with less, a reminder about a resource available from New York State that can assist you in your efforts to solve cases, prevent crime and better serve and protect your communities.

The state has established a toll-free tip line – 1-855-GUNSNYS (1-855- 486-7697) to encourage residents to report illegal firearm possession. The tip line also allows for information to be submitted via text – individuals can text GUNTIP and their message to CRIMES (274637). While the state will provide the administrative support and fund the rewards, the investigation and validity of the tip will be up to each local department.

To spread the word about this free resource, New York State is planning a comprehensive campaign, including public service announcements that will air on television and radio stations across Upstate.

The tip line can provide your agencies with another avenue for receiving intelligence about crimes being committed in your jurisdictions. This initiative is designed for communities where no tip lines are in place and is not meant to replace existing gun tip lines.

Here’s how the tip line operates:

The New York State Police staff the tip line 24 hours a day. Upon receiving a call, troopers will solicit as much information as possible regarding a firearm tip, while allowing the individual to remain anonymous. The caller will be informed that this program is not the traditional gun buyback program but rather is focused on identifying individuals who are carrying an illegal firearm.

The State Police will in turn contact the appropriate police agency with the lead to initiate an investigation. Staff from the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) will follow up with that agency to determine the validity of the lead. Once the investigation is completed, the police agency would convey to DCJS the outcome of the investigation.

If the information leads to an arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm, the “tipster” will be awarded $500. DCJS staff will handle all of the financial transactions.

State Police staff will explain the program in its entirety upon notifying an agency that a lead has been generated for their jurisdiction. If you have any questions in the interim, please contact DCJS Deputy Commissioner Tony Perez in the Office of Public Safety at 518-485-7610.

Janine Kava
Director of Public Information
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
(518) 457-8906 – work
(518) 485-7715 – fax

The NY SAFE Act is completely, 100% unenforceable and they seem to know it. There’s just no way to find the magazines and “assault weapons” in the state, let alone register them all. Mandatory firearms registration has historically resulted in less than 30% of the targeted guns being reported, leaving the vast majority in unknown hands and outside the control of the government. And that drives the powers that be crazy.

Snitching is about the only way to make a registration scheme work. If you create an atmosphere of paranoia in which citizens believe that their own friends and neighbors may turn them in, they might be more likely to register their firearms. Of course, you’ll also have people abusing the system, ratting out people who don’t own guns just because they don’t like them. Which further terrorizes the population. Its an awful environment, and one I’d never want to live in.

It looks like the New York politicians are using Soviet Russia as a blueprint for how to run their state, turning the Staties into the KGB, and encouraging neighbors to narc on each other. In a country founded on the principles of “innocent until proven guilty” and individual privacy, that’s as disgusting as it gets.

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101 COMMENTS

    • Okay, what do you guys think about some good ol’fashioned civil disobedience?

      Would it be lawful for out-of-state gun owners to text that line by the thousands to *politely* express how offensive this 1984esque move is? Or will NY put out warrants for our arrests?

      Thoughts? Because I am ready to start calling/texting..,

      • I had this same idea. I wouldn’t use my phone to do it though. I would probably drive around town using pay phones where I know there isn’t any cameras around. Yeah I know I am a bit paranoid but it makes me feel safe.

        • I was thinking it would be funny to start “anonymously” reporting ppl like Cuomo, anyone else responsible for the SAFE act, and the fine folks at the newspaper that listed the gun permit addressees. See how much they like it when big brother comes knocking. If they aren’t doing anything wrong, they have nothing to fear, lol.

        • Anyone have experience with throw away cell phones? How much does a text cost prepaid? You could just text random names and addresses from the phone book from a throw away phone. I, of course wouldn’t do such a thing, but if a few people did they would just spend all day deleting garbage texts.

      • Lawful or not, there are ways to do it. We need to tell them about groups of people that we think have automatic weapons with the shoulder things that go up and big clips.

        Then give them the addresses of every National Guard Armory we can find in that state…

    • ny’er here, they have been running a similar campaign for a year or two now trying to get folks to rat out underage drinking parties. with slogans like “not in my neighborhood!” and such. very disturbing back when id first heard it, this is beyond.

  3. I’ve said all along that the greatest danger we face is not government knocking on our door and saying turn ’em over, it’s our fellow citizens. When the fear gets ratcheted up high enough and the propaganda succeeds in convincing enough people that it’s their duty to ensure the welfare of society by making sure their neighbors aren’t “undesirables,” the undesirables won’t stand a chance.

    Self-righteousness, groupthink, and small-time greed can achieve what government by itself never could. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

    (Oh, and Nick, being a pro shooter and a writer is awesome, but the fact that you’ve been a pencil/paper/dice gamer puts you over the top. Leghorn for President!)

      • You will work with many other Troubleshooters. Some of them are insane. Some of them are mutants. Some of them may be Commie traitors. All of them have lasers.

        Aren’t you glad you have a laser? Won’t this be fun?

        Nick, if you’re ever in the southern UK, I can’t take you shooting but I can at least get the beers in.

  5. As you comment at the end of the post, the first thing that came to my mind was the problem of SWATting. What a wonderful way to bring a little joy into the day of people you don’t like – call the tip line, claim anonymously that you saw them through the window cleaning an assault weapon, break out your video camera and wait for the fun to start.

    With any luck at all he really will have an MSR and you’ll have a SWAT snuff shot to post on YouTube.

    Good times for all.

  6. I guess it would be bad form to rat out members of the law enforcement community living among us to see what the response is, eh?

  7. well…its anonymous…so every gun owner should be calling in to report every cops residence…just to keep that 24hr staff from beign bored

    • Anonymous my ass every call to a police station is fully recorded, their is no anonymity when you call them.

      Be prepared to shed BLOOD or surrender and get to the cattle car.

      • Go to WalMart. Buy a $20 Tracfone cell with cash. Call in your tips from a busy, downtown location with lots of people. Throw out the cell phone. Repeat as necessary. Start with the on-line list of the employees of that NY suburb newpaper that posted the names and addresses of all of the gun owners in their area. Have fun.

        • it’s possible they can find out where and when that phone was purchased by tracing the number. Wal-Mart is full of cameras and you can easily be caught on film purchasing the phone. I have seen them catch people this way on TV. Not on CSI or Law n Order but on the Discover ID channel. You can learn a lot about police tactics by watching that channel.

        • Good idea, I saw on TV once that if you install little LED lights into your hat it messes with the night cameras. All that shows is a huge glowing orb where your head is supposed to be. Actually, I have seen hats with these lights built in already.

          Or the best option would be small LED infrared lights. Since you will not look obvious to others since the human eye doesn’t see them.

  9. A poster in tngunowners.com shared a prank call they made to this hotline. We all need to come together on one day or the course of a week and flood this place with prank calls.

    • It doesn’t need to be a prank call. Report Bloomberg’s security if you think you see them printing, police open carrying, and report that drug dealer or pimp you saw uptown that you suspect is packing heat. There’s a list of celebrities in NYC who have guns report those which hold more than 7 rounds.

      • Haha yes! That would be great. Give vauge descriptions of the officers, dont even mention they are a cop or in uniform. Just give a location, physical description and that they are wearing dark navy pants and a shirt.

        ETA: I say leave out the cop part so they actually go looking. Yes I realize this ties them up and could delay response to an actual emergency. But on such a witch hunt, they reap what they sow. Maybe it will pi&& off enough NY’ers to turn on their government?

        • Given that the NYPD considers any brownish skinned young male who isn’t at that moment being stopped and frisked, unemployed middle class young people protesting financial scumbags, and kids carrying pot as “emergencies”, tying them up makes you a crusader for civil rights.

        • I am good at this paranoia game. I’ve watched it played from teh LEO end for years. Here’s some of the things I’ve seen work – (This is NOT legal advice. Disclaimer: don’t do anything here that’s illegal in your State or City.)

          Just make sure if you make a call like that you use a pay-as-you-go phone. Use cash and buy airtime cards, w/cash. Prefereably in a different location everytime you buy one. When you make a call, make sure there’s some background noise to help mask your voice signature. If you really want to go Mission Impossible, use some kind of throat spray for sore throats (lots of it to tighten up your vocal chords to subtly change the pitch of your voice) or yell for a solid minute like your in a rock concert and damage your vocal chords (not permenantly of course!). I’ve even seen people use a fake accent to break up the pattern but that needs to be practiced because the longer you talk, the more likely you are to forget to use it and lapse into yoru real voice. Plus that doesn’t change your pitch.

          There is ALWAYS a record of your calls with your phone’s provider. Never register your phone online no matter how many bonus minutes they give you or how slick you are with your “fake’ email and name. There’s always a record of when and where you logged in. And those records are just a search warrant away. Not to mention the 24hr hotline is probably not going to accept unlisted calls. Guess what shows up on the caller ID. Use cash, no exceptions.

          Make the call a few miles from your house or business. The Cell towers record your phones location. They can get an idea of where you live and even triangulate to predict your likely home of residence. Never call from the same location and when you toss the phone after a few calls, remember to take out the SIM chip and smash it into pieces. Better yet light it on fire and burn it to ash. Submerge the phone in bleach for a day then toss that into a garbage can, far away from your home.

          They use every little bit of data to form a complete picture and eventually, get a warrant. If you make it so hard or difficult to trace, they’ll give up and look for easier targets. Add multiple callers and the system can’t sustain itself. They’ll have to abandon it or have it run so expensive that they’ll be forced to shut it down lest they explain why all that money for overtime and 24 hotline operators is netting zero.

        • Thanks Secret Squirrel, that’s awesome advice especially the part about registering the phone. I would hate to hear about anyone on our side getting into trouble, especially if it’s for something like this. Like you advised, people should NEVER leave any type of trail online. A fake email account will not save you either. They have ways of finding you. They can look to see what IP address was used when creating that account. Chances are you did this from your house and that is all it takes to find out who you are. Perhaps you used a public hot spot when creating the account that still may not help you. Your computer will still leave traces of who you are at those hot spots. There are plenty of ways to find this info. MAC address, the DHCP server may store your domain name etc etc…

          You can attempt and use IP spoofing software and Proxy servers to bonce of satellites but if they really want to find you they will. You would have to use a throw a computer to go with your throw away phone. One that you never registered or used to input any of your personal information on, such as purchasing online or using your real email account. I don’t know if virtual machines can be used as a throw away PC, something I would have to research. Anyway, to be 100% sure you are safe don’t use the computer for any type of activity that may get you in trouble.

  10. How close does some nefarious action have to be to something the 3rd Reich would do before you are allowed to use a Nazi comparison in discussion?

  11. Because non-gun enthusiasts are totally going to have a freaking clue what’s “illegal” and what’s not.

    The only plus side to this is more work for Bloomberg’s army to deal with. Earn that special status!

    • Unfortunatley, I think that is part of the idea. If they get calls that warrant probable cause, then they can do whatever the fv@% they want. Just my opinion.

  12. I contacted the DCJS yesterday. They denied the allegation and asserted that the hot-line existed prior to the passage of Cuomo’s draconian legislation with the sole purpose of disarming street criminals. Needless to say, they may be intentionally misleading the public.

    • It may very well have pre-dated the NY-SAFE law. But any PIO with a registering EEG should have seen the potential that the newly created class of “otherwise law abiding felons” would see this as the creation of a Stasi quality informer state. It’s *almost* like the Fourth Branch of Government (the bureaucracy), realizing the futility of enforcing this, is trying to undermine it…

  13. How the hell would my neighbor know if I have anything “illegal?” WTF is going on nowadays?! What if my neighbor didn’t like me, they could simply tip I have “illegal guns” and probably get a no-knock in the middle of the night! GTFO!

    • Just like that guy in NJ a few days back, when he posted a pic of his 11 y/o with a M&P “assault rifle.” You don’t think that the inability to distinguish between a lawful rifle/handgun is going to stop anyone from reporting it, do you? Hell, the laws in California for assault rifles are so convoluted many cops can’t tell what is and what is not legal–even to the point of seizing everyting and letting someone else figure it out. Supposedly some owners carry a spreadsheet prepared by CalGuns that show what is legal.

      • Yes, here in Crazyfornia we do carry documentation that explains the legality of our “Off List Lower” based rifles. Calguns.net has a complicated flow chart as well as the Kasler list and other legal documents that might make a reasonable LEO back off. If they’re A-holes though, even that wont help. And we have lots of A-hole cops here.

  14. The people of the gun in NY should be “tipping” the addresses to every politician and their relatives. If used correctly this hotline could be overloaded with false leads and shut down within months.

  15. Mr Leghorn, you need to revisit your college days and play some rpg’s through Skype with us other AI RKBA guys. It would be a blast! Email me if interested, I can get a group together!

  16. So, I guess it is a race between NY and CA to see who will turn into the socialist/communist dream of being bankrupt, asking for federal money and stepping on its citizens necks and asking them to call the government mommy.

    Fortunately, for the PSA, it will eventually go down in flames like all others before it

  17. All law abiding citizens should start calling after 4/15/2013 to report all police officers carrying more than 7 bullets in their magazines. It is a crime, and there is no exemption in the NY SAFE act for them, so they should be reported.

    • So how you gonna find out if they have more than seven? Walk up and grab the mag out of their gun? Ask them to show you?
      NOT!

  18. That’s convenient – an anonymous tipline. So now, the NY gov can just come to your house SAYING they got an anonymous tip and here’s the search warrant get out of our way.

  19. This reminds me of Cuba where your neighbors (including family and friends) are required to spy on you, and you on them. And every neighborhood has an official communist party official that is in charge of spying on you, and you on them. They are called Comités de Defensa de la Revolución. Your neighbor comité knows all about your habits, food, friends, etc. They used it in the 60’s to find out who had weapons to complete the civil disarmament.

    You think Big Brother is bad, it gets worse … Big Neighbor

  20. Wow… that’s all I can say really. “$500” for anonymous snitching?

    How long until people start using this tip line as a tool in their personal vendettas against people they dislike who just may happen to own a gun?

    • $500 seems like way too much money, and I doubt false tips with malicious intents will be prosecuted in any way. I suspect there are going to be phone calls out the wazoo by people looking to make a little extra cash. If I’m a gun owner in New York and the other legislation hadn’t already pushed me over the edge, this type of thing would have me packing my bags for a warmer climate ASAP. Scary.

  21. Get the addresses of all the elected state officials. Report them. I am willing to bet the “Royalty” of New York have plenty of “illegal firearms”. Then start with the editors of the fine newspapers and medial outlets. You get the idea……….

  23. Know of a cop that has a magazine that holds more than 7 rounds? Call them in. Start calling in the cops.

  25. I ran into the following comment to an article at TheBuffaloNews.com called “Cuomo now backs allowing 10-bullet gun clips”:

    “… you still can’t be in possession of clips that can hold more than 5 rounds in the City of Buffalo thanks to Chapter 180 of the City Code. There is no provision for having a larger capacity clip and promising to only have 5 in the clip. Additionally, city residents are banned from disposing of such clips, except to turn them in to authorities. Also, violations are punishable by a fine of $1500 and/or 15 days in jail. There are other restrictions as well. One only has to go online and read the City Code, Chapter 180.”

    If this is true, NY State seems hopeless – it’s not just NYC.

  26. Report a group of individuals with history of violence a stockpile of ammo and automatic weapons.
    Give the address of the nypd

  27. I wonder what would happen if 100,000+ people used non-traceable phones to report bogus tips? Wouldn’t something like that flood investigators with an insurmountable backlog?

    And what about all the “suspects” who were really not suspects at all? How many of them would have grounds to sue the state for illegal searches or other similar infringements of privacy, due process, and civil rights?

    • what are these non traceable phone you talk about all can be triangulated can they not.
      how are you to know if ;they have a gps unless you pull them apart.

      Trust no one fight all of them or it will not survive.

      • Cheap, Pre-paid phone, busy downtown or something.

        I wonder, I’ve seen phone spoofing websites where you put in your number and the number you wish to call. Website calls you and and the other number, then connects the two calls. I’m curious if they are as anonymous as they say they are.

    • No, you would just have 100,000 wrongfully detained citizens held long enough for detectives to “find” 30 round mags buried in their closets.

  28. The rats of New York will continue to eat each other… It’s very unfortunate that this disease is spreading … God Bless America!!!

    • This NY Rat basturd, could not leave do to my parents,
      So if they, NY State Police wish it I will gladly join them.

      Otherwise they can follow me and the LORD to a better Plan than Cuomo’s the Commie

  30. I played a Paranoia LARP at the Origins gaming convention in Ohio many, many years ago. It was seriously fun. As a NYer (living in NYC) I’m going to triple check that my blinds are closed when I have any of my guns out. I’ve also modified a softball bag to hold my shotgun for when I head out to the range.

  32. Hello, tip line? I’d like to anonymously report a crime in progress. Yes, New York Governor Cuomo and the members of the New York State Legislature are currently infringing on the Constitutional rights of the People of New York. Can you send an officer down? Thanks.

  33. It seems this law is more designed to bully and harass gun owners than anything else. Can you imagine the hassle if a not so friendly neighbor gets it into his/her head to report your hunting rifle as illegal, especially repeatedly?

    • That’s a scary thought. One neighbor can abuse the power of the Government to create a nightmare for others.

  34. Find that list the NY newspaper posted of permit holders and report all of the non gun owners. Then get Bloomberg’s address and report his security detail.

    • I would suppose it works like the up to a grand you can get in Miami for snitching on Illegal guns. When you call the hotline you do not give a name or address instead you are assigned an ID number on your snitch file. I discovered this on a public service message on the telly while waiting on line at my local license office today. Yeah in Miami the reward is 10 benjamins. The caveat in Miami is ILLEGAL guns. I wonder if this is statewide or only in the liberal haven of Miami.

  38. “It was a parody of Soviet life, where snitching on your neighbors was as common as standing in bread lines”

    Uh, it was most certainly not. Like most cold war era dystopian sci-fi, it was based on the presumption that America was particularly vulnerable to this kind of totalitarianism — the McCarthy era serving as cautionary examples. It seems we have forgotten most of these lessons since the USSR collapsed.

    As an unapologetic left-leaning 2A supporter myself, I find it particularly ironic that neither gun-hating liberals nor gun-loving conservatives seem to grasp the McCarthy parallel. I think it’s clear that the ruling class in both parties does not represent the interests of their constituents. NYC’s treatment of occupy protesters should be evidence of this. Of COURSE Bloomberg wants to ban guns–he wants to keep the streets safe for bankers when they tank the economy again. Soon they’ll be asking “Are you now, or have you ever been, a gun owner?”

    Most “liberals” and “conservatives” have a lot more in common than they think, if they could get past preconceived notions about the “other side” (Notions that are created largely to divide us).

  39. Well, if this is the game the gun grabbers want to play…

    Remember the movie FAHRENHEIT 451? The nightmare society in that movie has outlawed the existence of books. Montag, the portagonist, decides to destroy the totalitarian government by planting books in the homes of its leaders.

    Why not do the same thing here? Some of you have suggested buying a Tracfone and reporting to the hotline that the New York Governor has illegal firearms, but why not take it a step further? Why not actually plant banned magazines and firearms in the homes and vehicles of the gun grabbers?

    • the only ones that would make a difference if you did that to em are above the law and youd never get it to stick

      • They dont play by the rules, lol, such progressives dont like the cake being fed back to them, but what they really want is violence which we wont use unless fired upon first, dirty pool though is just dandy!

  40. Note for New York State gun owners; keep the gf/wife happy at all costs.If cupcake doesn’t like your gun collection , she can remove it with one phone call to the “tip line”.

  41. There are plenty of millionaires who are pro gun, so here is how you bully Coumo back.

    Get a large millionaire, to offer a bounty on reporting the crimes of the politicians & police of NY & NYC,

    $100,000 for governor crimes
    $50,000 for senator & representative crimes
    $25,000 for mayors crimes
    $15,000 for police chiefs crimes
    $10,000 for city officials crimes
    $5,000 for police officer crimes

    Payable upon felony/misdemeanor prosecution of said criminal.

    Since MAIG mayors are so criminal prone, and based on the violence police are so often associated with committing, such a bounty will hit most of the underlings pretty hard I am sure.

    If someone who blogs here wins the powerball this weekend ($320 mil) please make this make this happen!

  42. Sounds just like the old USSR and Nazi Germany having your neighbor turn you in.
    What is next for NY putting people in a Gulag?

  45. So the tip line is only for when you know for sure there has been a gun law violation? Or rather for when you just suspect there was a violation?

    A “tip” is just that, you suspect something is wrong and you notify the police about it. Let them investigate. Let them remove the fellow officer’s magazine and count bullets. Then they can simultaneously put the cuffs on each other!

  47. We can see where this is headed – total disarmament of New Yorkers. Since Bloomberg and Cuomo preach that “illegal” guns are any guns not controlled by the police or military, they’re now offering “rewards” for rats. Much the way that Nazis offered chocolate candy bars to children who turned in their parents, if they spoke out against Hitler. Absolutely chilling.

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