The South and the 2nd

So, the Supreme Court is going to take on the Second Amendment (“The Supreme Court hangs a pistol on the wall,” Ruth Marcus, April 29).

I would hope they rule in the context of the times it was written. Here are a few factoids about slavery days: a) Texas fought Spain and came into the Union because Spain had outlawed slavery; b) Women of the South had almost no rights except the right to personally own slaves; c) The U.S. was the only country where the children of slaves also became slaves; d) Major disagreements between the North and the South over slavery resulted in the Second Amendment so that the South could have armed slave patrols … they even had conscription for those patrols; and e) Muskets and flintlock pistols were the armaments of the day.

Personally, I am a bit unnerved by folks with handguns strapped to their person, knowing I could easily be dead in the next 5 seconds … death interferes with my Pursuit of Happiness, a much more basic right than carrying semi-automatic firearms in public.

Leonard Butters

Spokane