Freedmen, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Right to Bear Arms, 1866-1876

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The book delves into the contentious debate of whether newly-freed slaves could be trusted with firearms in 1866, linking this historical issue to contemporary gun-control discussions. It presents a thorough analysis of the framers' intentions behind the Fourteenth Amendment and Reconstruction-era civil rights laws, emphasizing their aim to safeguard the right to bear arms alongside other Bill of Rights protections. Notably, it highlights the paradox that the Second Amendment is often excluded from the protections recognized under the Fourteenth Amendment by federal courts.