The real facts about the Second Amendment

I am writing in response to the letter from Lee Santa. The Second Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on Dec. 15, 1791. It was written as a constitutional check on congressional power. Our forefathers didn't want a repeat of the totalitarian monarchy which ruled them before independence from Britain. They learned from an armed government, and didn't want citizens without a means of defense against that government, and tyrannical rule.

At that time there almost 700,000 slaves in the United States, and the population, according to the 1790 census, was 3,292,214. So it seems a little unlikely that the Second Amendment was written to suppress slave uprisings, which had not yet occurred. 

But when have race baiters ever had a problem lying about the facts. Carol Anderson has a book to sell and facts are so inconvenient. In fact, over 300,000 white slaves were shipped from Britain to the Colonies, and in 1830 there were 3,775 free black people who owned 12,740 black slaves. Yes, those pesky facts again.

How dare you characterize citizens who uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as, how did you put it, oh yes, "those, (with their Tarzan yells) who beat their chests, most likely alt-right/white supremacist scaredy-cats who are terrified of people of color, esp. blacks."

You are the racist here, you hate and seem terrified of white people. You are Carol Anderson's water carrier. I am embarrassed for you, you are the racist you purport to hate. And yes, Lee Santa, ignorance is a choice.

CATHERINE FAHRIG

Sandpoint