PBS' 10-minute explainer on how the KKK and Al Capone helped create 'The Second Amendment' nightmare we have today

[jlw]

Originally published at: PBS' 10-minute explainer on how the KKK and Al Capone helped create 'The Second Amendment' nightmare we have today | Boing Boing

…

[gracchus]

Well, if that doesn’t convince you that the current interpretation of this right is worth all those dead kids you’re obviously an anti-American commie. /s

Good video, though. It further shows that this “originalist” interpretation of the 2nd Amendment is just BS pushed by a racist right-wing lobbying organisation and the duopoly party it supports.

[Brainspore]

Interestingly enough the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was a key event in creating public demand for new laws to regulate firearms like the Tommy Guns used to kill those seven gangsters.

Which means that Americans of 1929 were more appalled by the slaughter of seven gangsters than Americans of 2022 are appalled by the slaughter of dozens of school children.

[TheEvilCub]

Robert Evans recently did a three part series on this topic, mostly centered on the convicted murderer who turned the border patrol in an overt tool of racial supremacy and then went on to turn the NRA into another tool of the same. Check out Behind the Bastards if you are interested.

[VeronicaConnor]

As one would expect from PBS, that was a great piece.

I wish it was talked about more how big a change the Heller case was and how recent. Just like Citizen’s United or the overturning of Roe, the Heller decision was a 180º change, going against all previous rulings by the court, hanging off arguments that even a first year law student can see are bullshit. It was a conservative SCOTUS deciding they wanted more guns in the country and using the thinnest of rationalizations post hoc for that desire. Plain and simple. It’s bullshit.

Now suddenly everyone speaks like individual gun ownership is some sacred thing enshrined since 1791 in the Second Amendment. Not even close. That interpretation is 14 fucking years old. For a hundred years nobody even talked about 2A. Then for the next 132 years they debated nuances of how best to regulate militias. Then suddenly in 2008, every individual gets all the guns they want. What?!