Slavery and the 2nd Amendment

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Thom Hartman, writing for Truth-Out, puts forth the thesis that the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified in order to preserve slavery. (http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery)

Now, for the handful of you who may not be familiar with it, here's the text of said Amendment, arguably the most controversial...



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 use of the words 'state' instead of 'country' is central to this argument. In fact, the original draft of this amendment uses the term country instead.

What do you guys think?

[G4b3n]

I think it goes without saying that gun laws in the U.S have always been constructed to maintain institutionalized racism. A modern example being when the NRA opted for gun control in the 1960s as soon as the Panthers and other black radicals began open carry tactics. Then as soon as gun culture as a whole shifted away from the black community the NRA and other institutions of white reaction suddenly became all about gun liberty again. When Mao said that power grows from the barrel of a gun he didn't say anything that the international bourgeoisie hadn't known for centuries.

[Sewer Socialist]

Little did Madison realize that one day in the future weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as "persons" by a Supreme Court some have called dysfunctional, would use his slave patrol militia amendment to protect their "right" to manufacture and sell assault weapons used to murder schoolchildren.
This is an odd conclusion. It seems to imply that this is the main application of gun ownership. It really wouldn't be hard to link the history of its' usage to today, where it is often recognized as a white-only right, that it was recently used by a white person to terrorize a black community, that gun possession it is a commonly used reason to execute black people who are not even actually holding guns, and that their usage in racist militias continues today.

Like, the article makes it sound like "since there's no more slavery, the second amendment mostly serves to assault children in school shootings," which surely would result in its' repeal if it did not continue to serve a political purpose. Indeed, school shootings is the biggest threat to the second amendment, not racism. On the contrary; its' utility in supporting racism is a major force in its' preservation.