Second Amendment gun advocates probably know their US American history better than many of us do. A groundbreaking history of the Second Amendment is available now, and it clarifies the purpose of the private militias provided for in the Second Amendment.
LOADED: A DISARMING HISTORY OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (2018) documents the purpose of the the militias. Dunbar-Ortiz writes: “Settler-militias and armed households were institutionalized for the destruction and control of Native peoples, communities, and nations. With the expansion of plantation agriculture, by the late 1600s they were also used as “slave patrols,” forming the basis of the U.S. police culture after enslaving people was illegalized.”
Reading this book will help us to understand US American history and empire, and the “defund police” cry of today’s oppressed people.
Human development and humanitarian work today clearly challenges us to defund violence-first institutions like the military and police. This is real basic soul work, requiring contemplation, courage, action and persistence. It is central to the Jesus revolution of living life by doing to others what we would have them do to us.
John K. Stoner 6/13/20