I guess you could call it "the shape of things to come"  :~(

 In the Flak of the new Soldier Of Fortune (Sept 99) J. wrote:

   When I turned 18, I was living in Brooklyn.  First thing I 
  did was go out and get my license to own rifles and shotguns.  

  Second thing I did was run out and buy a nice, new AK.  
  (This was about 1985.)  Each gun I bought was registered with the 
  New York Firearms Control Section (think about those 3 words for a minute).  
  Over the next year I also acquired a Mini-14, an HK93 and an AR15 ... 
  all duly registered.  Flash forward a couple of years ... I've gone to 
  college and am living in the great state of Montana.  My brother, still 
  in NYC, forwards me some mail from the NYPD.  It says "our records show 
  you own these assault weapons ... turn them in or get them out of the 
  city.  Send us proof you no longer have them."  I, being freshly filled 
  with Montana-ness and not in the mood for bureaucratic Gestapo mandates, 
  wrote them a letter saying, "You want 'em? Come and get 'em."  A few 
  months go by ... My brother calls and says, "Remember the guy we sold 
  the house to?  Half-a-dozen cops showed up on the porch the other day 
  looking for your guns."
 
   Moral: Next time someone says, "Registration does NOT lead to 
  confiscation," give 'em my e-mail address and tell them to write me.
 
   J., via Internet
   western@bigsky.net