Why do we have the second amendment as part of our constitution? The NRA and pro-gun extremists would have you believe that the reason we have the second amendment is to protect against a tyrannical government and that the founding fathers believed the only way to do that was to make sure the citizens were armed. If this were true, then when drafting the constitution at the Philadelphia Convention in May 1787 one would have expected that specifying the right for citizens to be armed would have been a key part of that document. However, this was not discussed and those words did not appear in the constitution that was drafted. Subsequent to Philadelphia the individual states had to ratify the drafted constitution, nine we needed for it to be ratified. At the time of Virginia's ratifying convention (Richmond June 1788) eight states had ratified but of the other five Virginia was the only realistic hope for number nine. During the debate in Richmond, Patrick Henry and George Mason pointed out that the economy of the slave states would be decimated unless the slaves could be controlled. Patrick Henry reminded the delegates that "the militia with the last and best defense against slave insurrection" Commitment to including the second amendment in the constitution removed the threat of Congress using its constitutionally granted power to disarm the state militias. The principal purpose of the 2nd amendment was to preserve the slave system that existed in the late 1700’s. The 2nd Amendment was the price that had to be paid to secure ratification of the Constitution. (See “The Hidden History of the Second Amendment” by Carl T. Bogus.) The horror of slavery was the driving factor for establishing the second amendment. It continues today to extract its grievous toll. Today’s NRA and gun nuts actually believe that with their guns they could take on our armed forces and defeat them if they decide that the government has become tyrannical—defined as their not liking what the government is doing. Their position is so laughable that it's hard to even seriously respond to this fantasy—one of the many that drives the pro-gunners and prevents sane gun laws from being passed. This is why we need to keep up the pressure on Obama up by having everyone who has signed the petition get one new person to sign it every Tuesday through the holidays. This will generate a huge critical mass and give Obama the courage to act. Elliot Fineman CEO - Founder National Gun Victims Action Council www.gunvictimsaction.org