One of the most outrageous and inaccurate columns<http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery> I've seen recently is this one: "The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery." I have been researching this topic for 30 years, and there is no historical support for it. I have extensively perused the materials from that time. There is no credible historian anywhere that I know of that has made this assertion. I have read hundreds of law review articles on the Second Amendment over the years, but have never seen this assertion. The Second Amendment was not needed to protect gun-toting slave owners and slave patrols. Slaves could not lawfully possess firearms. Some of the states had constitutional protections for arms, but these did not apply to slaves. There is nothing substantial to support this author's contentions. Yes, militias in the South were used to control slaves. This connection, however, cannot be stretched to rationally support the thesis in the presence of an overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary. Further, states with few slaves and no slave rebellion problem also had militias and supported the Second Amendment. I can't recall evidence of any abolitionist or slave-owner arguing this point. The two black law profs who have written extensively on the Second Amendment and race, Cottrol and Diamond, have never made this assertion. I hope someone with ready access to the mass media will comment on this. Ray
Raymond G. Kessler, M.A., J.D. Professor of Criminal Justice Sul Ross State University Alpine, TX 79830 Office phone: 432 837-8166 Please feel free to check out my blog at http://crimelawandjustice.blogspot.com/
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