Anyone who thinks the anti-tyranny function of the Second Amendment is completely irrelevant today should also spend some time considering the historical experience of black Americans. At least until quite recently, one of the chief purposes of many gun control laws was to help secure the political subordination of the black population. That goal was successfully achieved for a long time, but it might not have been so easy if blacks had enjoyed the same right of access to firearms that the white population reserved for itself.
Nelson Lund, J.D., Ph.D.
June 2002
A Primer on the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms
[Also highly recommended reading is The Racist Roots of Gun Control by Clayton Cramer and:
See also several QOTDs by the author of the book.—Joe]
Well said.
Consider also the origin of the term “saturday night special”. Originally that term had four words — one more starting with n before “special”.
Consider also that the clearly stated purpose of the 14th amendment was to protect blacks’ right to arms.
There’s a good discussion of arms to protect 1960’s era civil rights activities in Tonso’s “The gun culture and its enemies”.