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The Founding Fathers were a group of late 18th
century American revolutionary leaders who united the 13 colonies oversaw the War of
Independence from Great Britain established the United States and crafted a framework
of government for the new nation including the Declaration of Independence the U.S Constitution
and the Bill of Rights.
The First Congress proposed a Bill of Rights as protection for those fearful of a strong
national government.
The Bill of Rights came into effect in December 1791 after ratification by three-fourths of
the state legislatures and contains the first 10 amendments.
These are considered the benchmark laws inviolate, untouchable and irrevocable.
The most contentious throughout U.S history is the Second Amendment.
What is the Second Amendment?
Why was it listed second in the ten first amendments?
Why has it been the most contentious of all the amendments?
Hello I'm Colin Heaton a veteran of the United States Army and Marine Corps former history
professor book author and welcome to this episode of Forgotten History [Music]
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"There's no violation of a Second Amendment right.
We talk like there's no Amendment that's absolute.
When the amendment was passed it didn't say anybody can own a gun and any kind of gun
and any kind of weapon.
You couldn't buy a cannon when this amendment was passed and so no reason why you should
be able to buy certain assault weapons but that's another issue."
The original text for the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is.
"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right
of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
The Second Amendment was considered the second most important law in the constitution ratified
in 1791 and was proposed by James Madison to allow the creation of civilian forces that
can counteract a tyrannical federal government.
The primary reason for having the right to own guns stemmed from the colonial period
when the British tried to take the guns from their American subjects.
The reality that the colonies would go to war meant that every able-bodied man needed
to be armed.
The anti-Federalists believed that a centralized standing military established by the Constitutional
Convention gave the federal government too much power and potential for violent oppression.
This meant that the citizens needed to have the right to protect themselves and their
property from any future government that wanted to exercise total control over the population
in violation of the law to take away the freedoms they had been guaranteed under the Constitution.
Modern militias are most commonly known as State Defense Forces or SDF's.
As of 2010, 23 states and territories maintained their own SDF's.
Unlike state governed organizations such as the National Guard which fall under the auspices
of the state governors and can be federalized in times of National Emergency
SDF's fall under the sole jurisdiction of state or territorial governments and cannot
be commanded by the federal government.
The first major challenge to the Second Amendment in New York with the passing of the Sullivan
Act was named for its primary legislative sponsor state senator Timothy Sullivan, a
Tammany Hall Democrat who wanted to remove all guns from New York.
It went into effect on August 31st 1911.
Lankevich in his book on New York City writes that "Big Tim" was more likely influenced
by a desire to have his police friends use the law to frame opponents by planting guns
on them.
At the time some complained that the law would only succeed in disarming lawful citizens,
while others suspected that Sullivan was just trying to rein in the thugs on his own payroll.
Famous law man Bat Masterson a friend of Sullivan's criticized the law as "obnoxious" and said
that he questioned Sullivan's mental state of mind over the law.
Most saw that there was no reduction in gun crime as a result and law-abiding citizens
tended to become victims more frequently especially during home invasions.
Another attack was when the federal government started regulating and keeping records of
machine guns back when it was passed by the National Firearms Act of 1934.
Because of their scarcity legal machine guns are also very expensive and still require
the original 1934 machine gun tax stamp of $200 and the owner or trader must undergo
extensive background checks and also permit the federal government to conduct searches
of a residence or a gun store.
That law mandated strict guidelines for manufacturers who put them in place for owners to register
their machine guns.
The next great gun control measure came after the assassinations of President John Kennedy,
Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson had the gun control Act passed in 1968 which imposed stricter
licensing and regulation on the firearms industry.
The law was also passed to stop the ability of citizens from buying and receiving guns
through the U.S mail which was done very frequently.
Lee Harvey Oswald received his man Mannlicher rifle that way to kill President Kennedy.
The new law also established new categories of firearms offenses and prohibits the sale
of firearms and ammunition to felons and certain other prohibited persons such as illegal drug
users and the mentally ill with violent tendencies.
Many believe that the only reason Johnson passed the act through Congress was due to
the black riots in Los Angeles and other cities as well as the rise in black radical groups
such as the Black Panthers and Symbionese Liberation Army who used weapons in crimes.
Background checks were now a part of the process.
The 1968 law also imposes the first federal jurisdiction over destructive devices including
bombs, mines, grenades and other similar devices.
Congress reorganized ATU into the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division or ATT and delegated
to them the enforcement of the Gun Control Act.
Today we have the ATF Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
In 1986 the federal government imposed the Firearm Owners Protection Act which expanded
on the original law.
It also banned possession and transfer of new automatic firearms and parts that fire
bullets without stopping once the trigger is depressed.
The Act stipulated that machine guns must be manufactured before May 19, 1986.
The cutoff date imposed by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives.
Fines of up to $250,000 and prison sentences of up to 10 years can be instituted to those
in possession of an unregistered machine gun.
"Ban on assault weapons in high-capacity magazines.
No one needs to have a weapon that can fire over 30 40 50 even up to 100 rounds.
Unless you think the deer wearing Kevlar vests or something."
California has always been a hotbed of gun control.
Even Republican President Ronald Reagan supported the 1967 Bill when he was governor, sponsored
by Republican Don Mulford in response to the Black Panthers carrying loaded weapons in
public.
"One is to make it a misdemeanor to have loaded the rifles and shotguns and weapons in public
places."
The Mulford Act was also supported by the National Rifle Association which banned open
carry of loaded weapons in the state and the Mulford Law is still on the books in California.
In 1991 Reagan supported the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act named for his press
secretary shot during the 1981 attempt on Reagan's life.
That bill passed in 1993 mandating federal background checks and a five-day waiting period.
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act in 1994 followed the Mulford
Act in California which Reagan supported and banned private use of assault weapons such
as certain semi-automatic rifles.
This was a proposal by democrats in Congress and signed into law by President William Jefferson
Clinton.
This federal ban expired in 2004.
Some U.S states have laws that prohibit assault weapons which is a vague term at best.
This has also been considered unconstitutional for several reasons.
First very few anti-gun proponents can even define what an assault weapon is.
Second semi-automatic weapons include any and all weapons, whether shotguns, pistols,
and none bolt action rifles.
All of these weapons only fire with each individual trigger pull with the exception of double
action handguns (according to liberals) which are not on the ban list (but they want to add them) and yet are responsible for the most gun crimes
in the nation.
In the 2008 landmark case District of Columbia V Heller the U.S Supreme Court concluded the
Second Amendment includes the right of individuals to bear arms for self-defense.
In 2010 McDonald v. the City of Chicago extended the prior ruling from federal laws to state
and local laws.
This opinion is controversial among anti-gun liberals and many argue that it conflicts
with the 10th Amendment on state's rights to pass laws including regulating gun ownership.
The current sitting members of the Supreme Court, Justices Clarence Thomas, John G. Roberts
Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. voted in the majority opinion of both District of Columbia v. Heller
and McDonald v. City of Chicago, the two cases that collectively established the individual's
right to bear arms for self-defense.
The argument is that despite the 10th Amendment giving States the rights to pass their own
laws such as having a death penalty no law passed may usurp the federally protected rights
enshrined in the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment qualifies.
What the liberal anti gun lobby will never acknowledge is that the cities with the highest
rates of gun crimes are the very democrat-run cities that have the most strict gun laws
leaving people defenseless against criminals.
For example some cities such as those in conservative districts in Texas have very relaxed gun laws
and they had the lowest crime rates due to guns because the responsible citizens all
carry weapons.
This is opposed to Democrat cities such as Houston and Dallas which have far higher gun
violence rates because only criminals have guns.
It would appear that criminals do not go where there are a lot of guns, only where they will
be the only people with guns.
The creation of gun-free zones such as at churches and schools have created a happy
hunting ground for the mentally feeble mass shooter.
They know that there will be little if any resistance due to the law-abiding citizens
not having guns.
Hardening schools armed security or even well-trained and armed teachers may be a solution as our
children are our most precious assets and should be protected like politicians are.
The anti gun lobby points to the many mass shootings that have taken place over the last
30 years using those as reasons to remove 2nd Amendment rights for citizens to have
certain types of weapons.
The counter argument is that with over 400 million weapons in the nation if guns kill
people by themselves there would be millions of people killed every year.
The fact is they never report the fact that on the average 2 million times per year a
legal gun owner prevents a crime with a firearm often saving their life or someone else's.
In most cases the weapon is never fired, just having it was a deterrent.
To counter to the anti-gun logic we would be better off banning cars or at least doing
background checks on car buyers who have had the same issues as potential illegal gun owners
since automobiles kill more people every year and most die due to driver negligence.
Another thing that the liberal media does not state is that most gun deaths are suicides.
Arizona and North Carolina have dropped the requirements for having carry permits and
gun crime has dropped because criminals never know who may have one and know how to use
it.
It has been proven that homeowners with home security protection signs have far lower break-in
rates than those that do not.
Likewise gun owners who advertise their willingness to defend their lives and property usually
do not make news headlines.
Criminals may not be smart but few are suicidal.
Another factor that the liberal media ignores, that besides car accidents more people are
killed by strangulation, physical assault and kitchen utensils as well as hammers and
screwdrivers than with guns but only guns make the news.
In the end the attacks upon the 2nd Amendment will never stop.
It will take a strong judiciary in the courts to maintain the rights of Americans to keep
and to bear arms.
Perhaps the best way to convert an anti-gun liberal into a 2nd Amendment supporter is
to have another citizen with a gun save their life with one.
"We are not finished.
We are not finished.
We are not finished."
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