[swift532]

I might be reaching a bit, but I'd think that, with current technology, psyops etc., it should not be that hard to defeat any rebellion before it ever starts - whether by neutralizing (not "kill" in the USA, but deincentivize, defame or frame) potential leaders or stopping public discourse from ever reaching that stage.

[pesmhey]

And if it really got bad, you’re not winning against fighter jets and tanks with whatever guns you’ve been allowed to amass. The 2nd amendment is weird, and the political fighting about it even weirder. In 1776, you could reasonably expect to possess the same weaponry as a government. In 2018, you’d need to have advanced military technology. For all the hoopla about the 2nd amendment these days, it’s painfully naive to believe it makes any bit of sense in the context of modern warfare.

[all2]

I'd say that depends on the convictions of the people involved. I don't know how kids feel about their Constitution, or their rights. If they don't care, we're screwed.

If there is a deep commitment to protecting their rights, no defamation will stop them.

I think this idea would make an interesting speculative novel: America is on the brink of tyranny. The Constitution has been set aside (for some 'sufficient' reason) and freedoms summarily stripped from the people (in essence, we have become what China is now).

What do Federal law enforcement agencies have to do in order to quell rebellion? Psy-ops? Kill teams and other wet work? Propaganda? Probably a liberal mashing up of these and other tactics.

How would rebellion work? Who succeeds and survives? Why and how do others fail? What is the best outcome? The worst?

[pjc50]

Psyops, definitely. jimjimjim upthread has the right idea. Start by setting up all sorts of alternative news sources each of which tell you to distruct the others. Get the militia movement on side, that's completely critical. Have a convicted traitor running the NRA. The kind of people who volunteer to do their own immigration enforcement, or who seize wildlife reserves. All this lot hate the "federal government", so you have to rebadge the takeover as something else.

Spread reports of election interference by "liberals". Use it as a pretext for cancelling polling in certain counties. Stage a couple of mass shootings at polling places. Bingo.