The government can't oppress the people, because the people are armed. Apparently.
So, how does it work - in detail?
I don't know. Among the more vocal in gun forums, even ones dedicated to liberals (but always overrun with obvious posers), there seems to be this notion that it'll just kind of happen. Conservatives who belong to the militia groups are much better organized, but the problem there is twofold. First, the government knows who they are, so they'd be targeted first and destroyed in the span of about 12 hours by what the U.S. military or even local police could bring to bear. The other side of that coin though is that they would actually be easily recruited to engage in the oppression, and would be the ones most capable of walking down a line of blindfolded people and shooting each in the back of the head. Yes, the irony would be utterly lost on these "patriots."
Still though, the "there's a 100 million Americans with guns" sentiment seems to be the overriding plan, along with the unshakeable notion that the military would split along certain lines, and that therein they'd find their support. So that's the plan.
From time to time I troll them by posting gun camera footage from Apache helicopters operating in Afghanistan and Iraq, which if one hasn't seen, gives some brief but poignant insight into the futility of resistance to an American government that turns itself on its own people.
When do you start shooting at representatives of the government, and who do you shoot? How does doing this lead to the removal of the tyrannical conditions against which you have taken up arms? How do you coordinate your activities?
The first question depends on the line one draws. For example, we wake up one morning to find Fox News being broadcast on every TV station 24/7, which shows GOP political enemies swinging from gallows. I think that's it for me. Maybe when elections are suspended and certain officials put in place, while duly elected ones are removed. When new edicts are issued regarding the elimination of long guaranteed rights. But of course it would be too late by then.
And why haven't you started yet? If none of the events of the recent (or even the distant) past justified such a popular uprising to redress the grievances of the people against tyranny, what are the criteria by which you will recognize that it is time to act?
We're still walking around as free people. No day to day change has been experienced. There are no knocks on the door in the middle of the night (so to speak). We haven't lost the right to vote, nor have any other Constitutional rights been suspended without legal process.
When the uprising begins, how do you imagine that the police, the military, and the other (armed and un-armed) members of the public people will respond, and why?
I suspect the cops would fall right in line. As we've seen from history, the worst tend to thrive in oppressive systems. They're the most loyal, the most violent, and therefore the most efficient. And assuming the loss of due process, equal protection, the elimination of the warrant requirement, etc., it would represent a golden age for them. All the things they've complained about not being able to do to for all these years, suddenly they'd be able to do. The sentiment among far too many cops is, "It's our job to enforce the law, so don't tell us how to do it." It'd be a civil and human rights bloodbath. As a whole, the vast majority of the police would fall right in line.
The military would largely fall in line too. They'd be the only ones who could prevent it, so if they were going to, it'd happen fast and we'd never get to the Nazi-esqu/Gillead scenario. But if they didn't prevent it, they'd be on board.
The vast majority of the public wouldn't do anything, but many Trump supporters would become citizen informants and given special privileges and police-like powers. They'd be the frontline goons informing the cops about e.g. "un-American activities" of their neighbors, and eventually they'd probably be organized into a separate organization.
The notion that the 2AM would protect us against a tyrannical government has minimal weight, particularly in light of how heavily armed American police forces have become along with the proliferation of military-type training so mangy through now. Further, the information available to them (e.g., who owns guns) means they could seek out gun owners as a first priority.
Still though, it'd be a bloody job for them (the cops). On the other hand, many more conservatives own guns than do non-conservatives, and most would go happily along with the oppression of us liberals. That is, they'd gleefully aid the authorities.
Uprising? Well, there has to be something concrete to rise up against. Right now there's "only" a looming threat. But depending on how things went, an active all out war against the government may never happen.