Will the justices get the history right, or will they be swayed by a potent gun-rights mythology that has distorted the history of Reconstruction and effectively erased the memory and sacrifices of men such as Williams? [More]See, according to Saul Cornell, the way we honor the memory of armed blacks who fought for freedom is by embracing disarmament edicts and the rulings that supported them.
There's no question that much precedent had been established by the late Nineteenth Century to reflect deviation from the concept of unalienable rights that shall not be infringed.
That does not give it moral legitimacy.
It's appropriate to question why we should give Cornell's opinion more credence than, say William Rawle's:
“No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give the Congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under a general pretence by a state legislature. But if in any pursuit of an inordinate power either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both.”And then there's one other fundamental reality: We will not disarm.
