Second Amendment Documentary May Convince Many Unbelievers
Date: Feb 11, 2007 11:28 PM
The New GUN WEEK, February 10, 2007
Page 15

Hindsight
by Joseph P. Tartaro,
Executive Editor

Second Amendment Documentary May Convince Many Unbelievers

Debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment to the US
Constitution often reminds me of heated theological
arguments.

On the gun rights issue there are basically two camps: 1.
those who believe the Second Amendment confirms an
individual right that existed before the Constitution was
written and, 2. those who believe that the Second Amendment
only confers a right for the states to arm militias. There
are variations on both themes just as there are different
camps in the various major world religions? Protestant vs.
Catholic Christians; Orthodox vs. Reformed Jews; Shia
versus Sunni Muslims, etc.

Among those who hold that the Second Amendment does not
guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms?the
collective right theorists?there is a sort of agnostic
subset that claims whatever it means, the Second Amendment
is no longer relevant and should be repealed.

But as the debate gets fueled from time to time by
collectivist editorials and op-ed columns like that written
by Clifford M. Herman, a trauma surgeon at Harborview
Hospital, which was published in The Seattle Post
Intelligencer?s Jan. 23 issue, serious scholars seek to find
the objective evidence in the legal and social history of
our nation.

Objective Evidence

Among the latter is a Tucson, AZ-based lawyer and author I
have known for many years who was once a solicitor for the
Interior Department and who has been an important player in
many gun-related cases.

He is David T. Hardy and while he has researched
constitutional law and American history for most of his
adult life, he set out to do so in greater detail some four
years ago with the idea of producing a documentary that
would explain what he discovered to average citizen and
scholar alike. Unlike Herman, who claims with little
support that the arguments favoring the private ownership
of handguns in this country are based on two myths, Hardy?s
documentary addresses all the empirical evidence in a
subjective manner.

Herman claims:

?The first myth is that the Second Amendment to the
Constitution guarantees private citizens the right to own
handguns.? He says ?the National Rifle Association has
succeeded brilliantly and cynically in convincing the public
that the amendment consists only of the part that follows
the comma? about the ?militia.?

Herman writes that during the American Revolution ?George
Washington, had to rely on the willingness of each colony to
send its militia of private citizens, each man carrying his
own rifle, to join the effort.

?… It was only the heroic efforts of Washington?s
tattered volunteers that prevailed and eventually formed
what would become the United States of America.

?Only then did a collection of militias be come what we have
long known as a national militia. We call it the National
Guard,? Herman states, not knowing or failing to mention
that the National Guard was not formed until more than 100
years after the Revolution.

Ignorance Relative

?The second myth,? Herman continues, ?is that every private
citizen needs a handgun to protect his loved ones and
property against intrusion by burglars. This is a
pernicious untruth. As a longtime trauma surgeon at
Harborview Medical Center, the main center for treatment of
all kinds of wounds and injuries, I cannot recall a single
patient who had been shot by the resident of a private home
while attempting to burglarize it. I believe my surgical
colleagues would agree with that assessment….”
Ironically, Herman says,

?Those are the two myths responsible for the ubiquitous
presence and use of handguns in Seattle and elsewhere in
this country. They attest to the ignorance of our citizens
and our laziness in not even reading and learning the
history of the Second Amendment to our Constitution.?

Herman is obviously one of those who would repeal the Second
Amendment, but I wonder if Herman would change his mind if
he could watch Hardy?s recently released DVD, ?In Search of
the Second Amendment.? For that matter, I wonder how many
devout anti-gunners might change their minds after viewing
the whole 111 minute presentation of facts by some of the
most learned constitutional law scholars and historians in
this country?liberals and conservatives alike?from some of
our leading colleges and universities.

It took four years for Hardy to produce ?In Search of the
Second Amendment? and he has put together an absorbing
documentary with astonishing new facts, sources and
documents. He was aided in this odyssey of discovery by
some of the foremost academics in the US today. His stars
include: Profs. Joyce Malcolm; Glenn Reynolds; Eugene
Volokh; Randy Barnett; Daniel Polsby; Nelson Lund; Nicholas
Johnson; Brannon Denning; Akhil Amar; Robert Cottrol;
Sanford Levinson, and Gary Kleck.

Through interviews with professors of constitutional law,
historians, and legal experts and citing original
historical documents and legal opinions?many previously
unknown, any viewer should come to a full understanding of
the Second Amendment throughout our nation?s history.

Also participating in the dialogues, and offering more
evidence in support of an individual right conclusion, are:
Sandy Froman; Carol Bambery; Stephen Halbrook; David Kopel;
Don B. Kates; Roy Innes, and Clayton Cramer.

The movie begins with re-enactments of the battles of
Lexington and Concord and traces the meaning of the Second
Amendment from the 18th century to the Civil Rights movement
of the 1950s and ?60s.

Unusual Sources

Along the way it cites sources you may never have heard
mentioned before, including such names as Saint George
Tucker, William Rawle and Thomas Cooley, as well as many
other important 19th century figures that might be more
familiar.

?In Search of the Second Amendment? also traces the origins
of the collective right theory to an obscure 19th century
Kansas court decision which was later massaged into a more
familiar ?National Guard? theory.

Produced and directed by Hardy, who also narrates, the movie
is an engrossing, professional production from both video
and audio standpoints. Nicely paced, it grips the attention
of views better than many big-budget films and DVDs. If
there are any brief glitches in sound or picture, they occur
during the brief use of archival film of an American
Enterprise Institute symposium on the Second Amendment held
several years ago.

I have never seen the story of the Second Amendment so ably
presented. This documentary deserves to be seen not just by
editorialists like Dr. Herman, but by all Americans who
want answers about the American right to keep and bear arms.
Even the most devout pro-gunner will gain solid new
historical reinforcement after watching this documentary.
Those who espouse the collective right theory will find
their convictions shaken to the core, not by emotional
arguments, but by sober and reasoned evidence.

?In Search of the Second Amendment? in DVD format costs
$24.95 plus $2 shipping and handling. Every serious
firearms civil rights activist should have a copy, not just
for their own edification, but to show to service clubs,
unions, scouting and church groups, schools and any group
with an open mind. Maybe even to share with editorial
boards at newspapers and broadcasting stations. Some may
even be successful in getting segments broadcast on local
access TV stations.

Hardy notes that ?As of March 31, 2007, any purchaser of
this DVD is given a non-exclusive license to show it on
local cable access television. Any purchaser is also
licensed, as of this moment, to show it to groups,
meetings, and at fund raising events, arid to donate it to
libraries and schools. Libraries and schools are freely
licensed to circulate it and show it to classes.?

You can get a preview and order a DVD copy of?In Search of
the Second Amendment? on-line at:
www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com. It can also be ordered
from Second Amendment Films LLC, 8987 E. Tanque Verde, PMB
265, Dept. GWK, Tucson, AZ 85749.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !