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A three-hour tour?

A local resident took a tour of the finer historical sites of our country, not only was it about architecture but also provided information on slavery. Which ones, he did not say. He continues to write in his letter about how slaves owned guns. He then slipped in colonial times. He then surmises somehow that slave owners were much better than modern day Democrats because of their desire to take away your guns and socialism.

The writer makes some pretty wide leaps in his argument. A brief snippet into the past given on a tour does not make one a scholar. He titled his letter “lesson in history” but it is obvious he needs a lot more lessons in history and not from a tour. He is correct that some slaves did have access to guns but with the permission of their owners and it was not the norm. It was only the most trusted slaves who could have a rifle and it was only for hunting purposes. That game usually went to the big house first and not to the slave quarters.

I doubt the writer would like for us to only allow the most trusted to own guns and only for hunting purposes as the kindly slave owners of the past that he painted in his letter. Not all slave states liked the idea of slaves having access to rifles or guns of any kind, let alone any kind of weaponry. It wasn’t just the abusive slave owners who were against it. There are cases where free black men were not allowed to own rifles, guns or weaponry of any kind and if found with them, the weapons were confiscated. In one state, if a slave was found with a weapon or gun or rifle, they could be shot on sight. I cannot believe I have to point out that, no matter how kind and benevolent an owner of a slave was, slavery in and of itself is abuse.

You need more than a “three-hour tour” of historical sites to be knowledgeable about slavery, guns, the Constitution, socialism, the Democratic party, let alone make any connections between them. Try as he might, the writer did not make a plausible argument in his letter.

Charles M. Reeder

Montoursville

Submitted via Virtual Newsroom

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