On The Kind of Weapons the Founders Envisioned [Contest Entry]

By Roger Haynes

Of the many arguments put forth by the anti-gun crusaders, such as the original intent of the Second Amendment or the definition of an “assault rifle”, one attack seems to have been left insufficiently addressed. That is the supposition that the Founders could not have conceived of the technological improvements in the lethality of modern weapons. The argument is mostly presented along the lines of, “But at the time, the soldiers’ weapons of war were muskets, and they could never have conceived of machine guns and other modern improvements in war implements”. While I doubt scientists and inventors (Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson) weren’t capable of envisioning new technologies and advancements, I suggest we look at what they did know . . .

First, the drafters of the Constitution were children of empire. They were citizens of a country whose dominance reached across the globe. It was said, of course, that “The sun never sets on the British empire”. That empire relied on the ability of Britain to project force, and that projection relied heavily on the capability of their navy . So for the framers of the Constitution, one of the most powerful military tools was …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns