Thom Hartmann of the NYT is hardly an historian. His source, the 1949 Herbert Aptheker book, was considered bs by most responsible historians at the time he wrote. I'll give him credit for being about 40 years ahead of his time, which was about the time revisionists began promoting the idea that everything that happened in the pre-Civil War US was about slavery.
That's why I went back further to his source as well. Fact is, very few credible historians buy the 2A was written to preserve slavery theory.
Slight subject change but to @stevescookin point that the government wants a system that doesn’t work is more like the government is incapable of making the system work because a bureaucracy is incapable of addressing changing situations. This article is a great condensation of the argument. https://chrishanger.wordpress.com/2018/03/29/the-government-designed-mouse/ Yes he’s a science fiction writer but he’s dead on. Both sides of the political spectrum look to government to solve all problems. The founding fathers knew that it was up to the citizens to sole them. We need to relearn that lesson.
Agree there is a more credible argument that the 2A was there to allow settlers to survive in the western expansion. Remember wild animals (wolves & bears) were prevalent in every one of the 13 states and the territories to the west. Also the Indian nations presented a real threat to isolated settlements. Finally the French were expanding into the same area and had been at war only 30 or so years before. The country was a dangerous place and an armed citizenry was necessary.
The system is called NICS, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (had to look that one up to be sure). The process is a series of fill in the blank, example- name; address and purpose for buying firearm and a bunch of simple yes/no questions- are you a fugitive from justice. The FFL, Federal Firearms License the place that sell you a gun, takes the answers and sends it off to NICS where you are cross referenced in three databases. If you come up clean, you get to walk out with you firearm and this happens generally in a very reasonable time, 15 min or so. The process has a max of three days and if the NICS does not get you an answer by then you can walk with the firearm from the FFL. The cost is from the FFL... if you buy a gun from the internet, it is sent to a local FFL. The cost can be $0 and some places charge up to $75 At the height of the Obama gun scare, it was taking several days and some people reportedly had a 5 day wait or more. The system was just overwhelmed. Still most FFLs would wait to contact a person after NICS cleared them to come pick up their firearm. I have applied and renewed several times for my Georgia Weapons License (for concealed carry). You are fingerprinted and fill out another form with address and such, similar to the other form above. All the material is sent off to the FBI and when they give the Ok, the probate court will mail off the license to you. This level of background check speeds up the purchase of a firearm thru NICS, wait time is maybe 5-8 minutes. The cost is about $90 in Georgia. Oh, there is no class component or marksmanship component. Up to a 90 day wait or there about, often a renewal is 30 days. Another level of background checks is done from scratch when you purchase a NFA (National Firearms Act) Class 3 weapon. These are short barreled shotguns or short barreled rifles as there is a minimum length for the barrel and overall length for those weapons... also suppressors/silencers. The process goes like this... I buy a suppressor and have it sent to a FFL that has a Class 3 transfer license. The local store contacts me when they receive it and I come in and fill out paperwork like above, pay a $200 tax to the ATF as they will receive the paperwork and process it. Generally, in about 6 months to 1.5 years you get a call back from the local FFL to pick up your suppressor. You then fill out another NICS form like you are buying a new firearm and once cleared you the pay the local FFL their fee for processing all the information and storing your purchase, around $100. Then, I think, you have to mail the local sheriff's office and let them know you have a suppressor or Class 3 weapon. From here, if wanted to transport a class 3 weapon, I have to contact that county or parish's sheriff for permission that may or may not be granted, for each time I wanted to transport the weapon into that jurisdiction. Like my Georgia Weapons License, there is not immediate reciprocation between states for class 3 weapons. Some states will recognize my GWL, like most all southern states and not the commie ones- Cal, Ill, NY etc. Two big exceptions to the system working, you have to report it to the system, the air force guy that shot up the church in Texas and the south Carolina church shooting, dude was on psycho meds. From other stories I have heard, most FFL will give you a common sense test, too. One story is that a woman comes in with the boyfriend and she wants to see a gun and he does a lot of talking and holding the gun, it aint for her and the boyfriend might be on parole. So the guy behind the counter challenged the woman and it was obvious that that was the case, so no sale. Why do I know all of this...
I'm armed to prevent crack heads from breaking into my home and potentially killing my family for their next fix. When danger is seconds away, the police are minutes away, and if you're in Broward County they may cower is the street until 'real' police arrive.
