AR-15s meet intent behind second amendment

August 6, 2022

Muskets were the assault weapons of their day, and yes, you have the right to own them. Illinois governor JB Pritzker recently insinuated that the second amendment is obsolete because the founding fathers owned muskets. This is an insult to the intelligence of every American. In the 18th Century the citizen and the state were equally matched on the battlefield. Both fought with the same weapons. It was just a matter of who had more muskets and soldiers.

This makes the musket the "assault weapon" of its day.

The second amendment was not written to encourage the citizen to go to war with the state. Instead, it is the other way round — to prevent the state from waging war on the citizen. Otherwise, the second amendment would only have protected those other methods of defense in the late 1700s; sabers, pistols and pitchforks.

The American citizen and US government have not been equally matched with regards to weaponry since at least 1880. Submarines, F-22s, Reaper Drones, the State Security Services and many other things make the modern state almost invincible.

Such state supremacy presents grave new challenges to democracy as well as a clear danger for the citizen.

Despite their reputation semi-automatic, AR-15s don't stand a chance against these real weapons of war. But they still provide the material for the intent behind the second amendment: a deterrent against the state declaring war on the individual.

That fact should only worry tyrants.