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The Second Amendment: The Right to Own Guns (Constitution)

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This book is one of a series of books written for children on the Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. If this book represents the misconstruction of rights being taught in schools today, then there is no wonder our society is so ill informed of its liberties.

The book starts innocently enough discussing the historical basis of civil liberties in England. The author then discusses the American Revolutionary War and the ratification of the Constitution. Given the young audience to which this book is directed, and the required brevity, it is understandable that much of the detail of the historical debate is left out.

The book then turns to contemporary Second Amendment issues. This is where the author commences with outright misstatements of law and fact, and reveals the anti-civil rights agenda of this book.

The discussion of US v Miller on page 49 is typical of the factual errors in this book. The author states that "Jack Miller and Frank Layton were found guilty . . .." If the author, who claims to be an attorney, had read the cited case, she would have discovered that the district court dismissed the charges upon finding that the 1934 National Firearms Act violated the Second Amendment. There was no trial. There was no finding of guilty.

Later in the paragraph, the author states "The case was appealed from the Arkansas court to the Supreme Court." This use of the passive voice hides the fact that it was the U.S. government who appealed the decision. The government bypassed the appellate court. Additionally, the Supreme Court only heard the prosecution's side of the case. There was no defense case put before the court. The Supreme Court returned the case to the trial court for further hearings that never occurred.

An obvious misstatement of the law occurs on page 37. The author states "The sale of weapons to out-of-state residents was allowed, and mail-order purchases of gun again became legal." In fact, only the sale of long guns to residents of adjacent states was allowed and then only if the laws of both states were satisfied. The notion that mail-order sales are now allowed is just plain wrong.

The book concludes with suggestions for further study and projects, all of which are anti-civil rights. There is no mention of the Eddie Eagle program, demonstrably the single most effective safety education program available. There is no mention of the shooting sports and competitions available to young people.

In summary, this book is anti-gun propaganda camouflaged as a reasoned debate on civil rights.

The Second Amendment, Freya Ottem Hanson

Freya Ottem Hanson is a lawyer, someone who represents a point of view (like a lobbyist). This 1998 book is written for teenagers who want to learn the history of the Second Amendment, Supreme Court cases, and both sides of the debate over gun control. There are eleven chapters, Notes, a Glossary, and an Index for its 128 pages. How well can this subject be covered in this book. Are all of its statements equally true? Are the selections unbiased? The "Opposing Viewpoints" book on this subject is better.

Chapter 1 begins with some scary statistics. Should this justify tougher gun control laws? [The 1968 movie "Targets" argued for gun control because of 7,000 deaths each year. The number of firearm deaths increased greatly after the 1958 Gun Control Act. Cities with the most gun control have the most murders and crime.] The words of the Second Amendment were never puzzle to most people until the 1960s. Hardware stores sold guns and ammunition (p.9). Chapter 2 has a short history that explains the link between freedom and arms. Those who want to oppress people (low wages and high taxes) first try to disarm them (p.13). Chapter 3 tells how "heavy taxes" oppressed the colonists (p.17). The War of 1775 began when the British tried to confiscate the arms stored in Concord.

The Articles of Confederation governed the new country, but there were problems (p.24). A new Constitution was adopted to solve the problem of taxation (Chapter 4). Most people wanted a Bill of Rights to protect their newly won freedom. The Great Depression saw the first Federal gun control law. Because of the meaning of the Second Amendment it was disguised as a tax measure (Chapter 5). There was a slick judicial ruling to prevent it from being declared unconstitutional (p.35). The 1968 Gun Control Act started the increasing prohibition of guns. Many parts of this law were copied from the Nazi gun control law of the 1930s. The aim of both laws was to oppress people with lower wages and higher taxes. More laws were passed, but things got worse (pp.40-42). The author is confused about the word "semiautomatic" (p.42). Areas with gun prohibition have the most crime and violence (p.43).

Chapter 6 discusses Supreme Court rulings. These occurred after the rise of Big Corporations after the 1860s. These decisions are all politically biased to repress people and deprive them of their rights to peaceably assemble and bear arms (pp.46-48). US v. Miller ruled implicitly that people had a right to own military weapons (p.49). The Gun-Free School Zones Act was ruled unconstitutional (p.50). [What if a road is near a public school?] The Fourteenth Amendment says the Bill of Rights also applies to the states (p.53). Chapter 7 summarizes the varying gun control laws in the fifty states. Before the 1968 Gun Control Act most high schools had rifle teams that competed in this Olympic sport (p.60). There was also ROTC classes, a relic of the militia where democracy ruled. Banning guns and confiscating them (p.61) was also done in Nazi Germany and their conquered countries, as in other aristocratic governments. "State gun laws vary from state to state, and they are complex and difficult to understand" (p.66). [Shouldn't such complex laws be banned?]

People who are against Gun Prohibition defend the rights of the people against Big Corporations (the wealthy) who seek to oppress people (Chapter 8). The handgun ban in Washington D.C. led to their high murder rate. The quote from Warren Burger doesn't mention his senility (p.78). Those who argue for Gun Prohibition are paid lobbyists who use lies and half-truths to attack people's rights. The rate of violent death in Japan is higher than in America, and America's rate is higher than in Canada (p.85). Few books will tell these facts. Before the 1950s there was little gun control in most states; how did they survive and prosper? Chapter 10 discloses the agenda of this book. Should students be allowed to learn from history (p.88)? Should high-school students be taught to use guns (p.90)? They were in the past. Page 91 doesn't mention economic oppression as a cause of crime and violence. Chapter 11 does not mention the attacks on the local militia in the late 19th century by Big Corporations; they were abolished after WW I. You can research this subject on your own, your teachers may not approve!