Muskets were ‘assault weapons’ of their day

Muskets were the "assault weapons" of their day … and yes, you have the right to own them. 

Illinois governor JB Pritzker recently insinuated that the Second Amendment is obsolete because the Founding Fathers owned muskets. This is an insult to the intelligence of every American. 

In the 18th century the citizen and the state were equally matched on the battlefield. Both fought with the same weapons. It was just a matter of who had more muskets and soldiers. This makes the musket the "assault weapons" of its day. The Second Amendment was not written to encourage the citizen to go to war with the state. Instead, it is the other way round — to prevent the state from waging war on the citizen. Otherwise, the Second Amendment would only have protected those other methods of defense in the late 1700s: sabers, pistols and pitchforks. 

The American citizen and U.S. government have not been equally matched with regards to weaponry since at least 1880. Nuclear weapons, submarines, F-22s, Reaper Drones, the state security apparatus and many other things make the modern state almost invincible. This actually presents new challenges to democracy and a clear danger for the citizen in our current era. Despite their reputation semi-automatic AR-15s don't stand a chance against these real weapons of war. But they still provide the material for the intent behind the Second Amendment: a deterrent against the state declaring war on the individual. 

That fact should only worry tyrants. 

DEAN CANNON

Sandpoint