Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment (City Lights Open Media) in The Majority Report Podcast Goodreads Group

Jun 10, 2018 Jacob rated it really liked it

Shelves: digital, history, race, zrichardson-lib, american-history

“Loaded” is one of those rare books where the thesis itself is a game-changer—not simply an expansion of something you already believe, well packaged and cited—but an upheaval in the way you think about an issue. Dunbar-Ortiz takes no prisoners in the destruction of mythology behind both arguments present in today’s gun debate. Firstly, she challenges the liberal argument that the 2nd Amendment was not meant to be an individual right. This was something that I believed, mostly because of the wor “Loaded” is one of those rare books where the thesis itself is a game-changer—not simply an expansion of something you already believe, well packaged and cited—but an upheaval in the way you think about an issue. Dunbar-Ortiz takes no prisoners in the destruction of mythology behind both arguments present in today’s gun debate. Firstly, she challenges the liberal argument that the 2nd Amendment was not meant to be an individual right. This was something that I believed, mostly because of the wording, not because of any deeply researched belief. Despite that, the inconvenient truth Dunbar-Ortiz lays out is undeniable, the 2nd Amendment was absolutely meant to be an individual right. I’ll leave the reasoning for the book, but this is laid out so effectively that it cannot be denied by the end.

It’s not all good news for gun enthusiasts, though. “Loaded”s primary reason for being is to explain the reasoning behind why the second amendment was included in the Bill of Rights, and it’s not at all pretty. Dunbar-Ortiz lays out a convincing case for the gun culture in America leading to the second amendment and existing all the way until today: and it begins with the genocide of the indigenous peoples by British colonists in the new world. Not only were guns protection against “savage” natives, they were used in brutal attacks against entire villages, where men, women, and children were killed indiscriminately for their land. Scalps of natives were collected for sport and for reward, incentivizing the slaughters by colonial government. Some colonial governments even passed laws requiring colonists to carry or own firearms. Slave patrols were also necessary to keep the human chattel in check in the south. This required rotating groups of volunteers, slaveholders and not, to ride horses and patrol for escaped slaves.

Dunbar-Ortiz argues that both of these groups embodied what was meant by “militia” in the second amendment, since the national guard is already established in the original document. Thus, the second amendment itself was included as a right in order to facilitate control over populations regarded as subhuman. Is it just a coincidence that to this day 82 percent of gun owners are white? She makes a convincing argument that until either side can come to terms with the whitewashing and mythmaking that has occurred, gun violence will continue to flourish. ...more

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Jun 23, 2025 Doug Poore rated it it was amazing

the 2nd amendment never addressed individual ownership of guns because it was a given. the 2nd guaranteed arms for state militias who's purpose was to kill natives for their land & to recapture & control the slaves, treating land & bodies as commodities.
modern gun culture is a post-civil-war commercial campaign by winchester & the n.r.a. gun nuts think guns equal power so their focus is on the government & its vastly superior firepower. they overlook big money power as buying political power & t ...more

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