.
1) We have a panopticon watching over us, from the NSA, street cameras, cell phone tracking, etc. that everyone is beginning to accept. This is a requirement to enforce and control faction, including local disruptions.
2) We have paramilitarized police forces. All the RW yahoos love seeing their town's hummers and assault vehicles roam down the street. But, this is required to control local faction, and giving the towns this equipment locally stores the trucks, instead of sitting and decaying as a regional National Guard Depot. The kicker is, the towns end up paying for that equipment's maintenance, the same town that might see that equipment turn on their own citizens. The military can only do so much, effective control, sans carpet bombing, requires local township forces to maintain control. That's why paramilitarized police forces are needed.
The missing key, if this continues to expand, is a charismatic fascist leader who could work a deal out with the local police to seize their towns. It won't come from the left, but from the corporatocrisy downward. This will be a RW fascist force.
===
Now, the problems with a 'gun grab' are that over half of the military are pro-2A, and most of the police. Many Dems and Indys are also pro-2A, but with a more tempered mindset.
It would be impossible to control the leakage of such a wide scale grab, since it would need to be done at the same instant across the country, else everyone, Reps, Indys and Dems would resist--including this guy's entire family.
There's other stuff too, but I haven't had my coffee yet.
.