Why the second amendment?

Written by Walter Hecht   

In justification of the second amendment to the US Constitution, there are the reasons that are spoken and those that are not. The spoken reasons included at the time it was written: hostile Native Americans, hunting, hostile neighbors to the north and south, and preventing Federal tyranny.

The unspoken reasons then and now were and are mostly economic, keeping minorities in their place and oppressing the weak, including women and children. A small number of white males could not force a large number of people to do their bidding without the threat of force, and firearms are a force multiplier. One must also remember that the second amendment was written by men for the benefit of men, and all those men were white men. No persons of color or women were consulted.

The second amendment is at its most basic, an instrument for enforcing an economic system benefiting a few at the expense of the many. Today we refer to the few as the 1% and the majority as the 99%. Before emancipation, the Constitution also endorsed slavery. Today we have wage slavery where most of us are chained to our employment so that Wall Street and other financial institutions can feed from the sweat of our brows.