This book completely changed my perspective on a subject I thought I understood. High rating just for that, but in addition, the author writes well, and documents her facts, on an extremely relevant topic.

Sadly, this is a topic filled with misinformation and lies. As a gun-owner, State pistol champion, Veteran, former hunter and Southerner, I myself was a victim of outright lies fed to me about GUNS.

Here is the author's essential contribution to what is now a white-hot "debate" about guns in America: Very few Americans hunted or owned guns when the 2d Amendment was written. Most of us were farmers. We did not need or want guns, and did not hunt for sport or meat. The deer had been hunted out in the previous century, and fur-trading was gone as farmers replaced hunters.

There was, however, one vested group who wanted to protect their "property", with guns: Slavers. The plantation owners of the South controlled the Southern States, and obtained State-subsidies for private armies they called "militia". These armed forces of conscripted poor white males made up the terror squads which kept Slaves in bondage.

The conscripted "militia" hunted and pursued runaway Slaves who tried to escape from the fields and harems of the wealthy plantation owners. There were almost no "militias" in the North -- no one needed goon squads or even guns. The entire 2d Amendment rationale for guns was ALL about Slavery.

The "right to bear arms" was enacted as a concession to the feudal lords of the South. They wanted to make sure their union with the United States would not compromise their ability to keep their State funding of private militia forces--which they understood they NEEDED in order to keep the Slaves from rebellion. This rationale is the exact opposite of insuring that citizens have guns to preserve freedom: The history of the 2d Amendment shows that the Militias were depriving us of freedom.

Professor Hadden does us a great service. I honestly did not know -- really had no idea -- how different the actual history and facts of this "gun obsession" is. Americans did not need guns then, and we do not need them now.

And Hadden does not overlook the detailed description of what "arms" meant. The weapons were flintlock, barrel-loading, dry powder fired and often hand-made. librarything.com/work/448502/book/124055720 ( )