In the Nov/Dec issue of The Saturday Evening Post, Frederick Allen examines the United States’ complicated history with firearms in his story “Guns & America.” Here are some classic Post covers (including one by Norman Rockwell) to illustrate how our magazine has represented guns since 1900.
Paul Bransom
October 1, 1929
WM. Meade Prince
October 11, 1924
June 23, 1900
J.F. Kernan
November 9, 1935
Douglas Crockwell
October 28, 1939
Mead Schaeffer
October 24, 1942
John Atherton
December 12, 1942
Norman Rockwell
July 21, 1921
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Comments
First, about Frederick Allen’s story: The author was disengenuous in its writing, affecting balance while a close reading and knowledge of history exposes him as something else. A propagandist at best. I offer this one example among many: “[The Constitution] is a very disappointing document, too, in that nobody can agree on what it means.” That is, in fact, a lie. Just as Allen’s quote from Levinson is also lie: “No one has ever described the Constitution as a marvel of clarity, and the Second Amendment is perhaps one of the worst drafted of all its provisions.” In such a way does Allen push the leftist view that the Constitution does not mean what it says.
In fact, until the mid-1920s and early 1930s, likely all Americans thought that the Constitution was quite clear and meant exactly what it said. Even Franklin Roosevelt thought that in 1933 while getting elected as, of all things, a conservative Democrat! Most of us still believe the Constitution means exactly what it says. It’s only the statists of various varieties that claim otherwise and only Useful Idiots, as Marx described them, who believe otherwise.
During the 20s and 30s America’s Marxists began to realize three things: First, they would have to call themselves “liberal Democrats” in order to impose socialism on Americans; second, they would have to attack and muddy the clear meaning of the U.S. Constitution; and third, they would need to deprive Americans of their firearms in order to to impose socialism. Franklin Roosevelt packed the Supreme Court to obtain the judicial decisions he desired and the Marxists and Fascists have been calling themselves Liberals and Progressives and attacking the Constitution and its meaning ever since. Democrat Supreme Court Justices find meanings in “penumbras” eminating from provisions, for Pete’s sake!
Explaining why he would not run for President a seventh time as a Socialist, Normal Thomas infamously said that he no longer needed to, that Americans would accept socialism under the label Liberalism.
Allen, Useful Idiot to the end, concludes, “Is not, after all, the possibililty of serious, engaged discussion about political issues at the heart of what is most attractive in both liberal and republican versions of politics.” This is what the Marxists and Fascists in the Democrat Party always say, never giving an inch in the direction toward governing by the Constitution while they continue to defame, devalue, and destroy the Constitution and the nation.
For evidence I give you body of political work by Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now the grandest traitor to America of all, Barack Obama.
I believe that Sanford Levinson is a product of our current Universitys, but has done his best to be non-political in his writing but failed.
The Constitution is indeed a marvel clairity and the Second Amendment is perhaps the best drafted. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state”. The Militia was in fact the armed American citizens that stopped the English army in the American Revolution and became the beginning of the American armed forces that we have today. This Amendment was drafted to prevent the government from regulating or taking the guns from the American citizens and to assure that no government could establish a dictatorship in our country. Thomas Jefferson warned us that history has shown that when governments have the ability to tax us, with no restrains they will end up as enslavers and we will be the slaves if we ever give up our guns. This is the reason of “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. Infringed was used to prevent the government from regulating our guns in any way or for any purpose. Before the government can regulate or take the guns they would need an Amendment to our Constitution. There are highly educated people that for years have tried to make us believe that the writers of the Constitution didn’t mean what they wrote and they really intended that the government should control the guns to protect us.
I am basically a Liberal at heart, however I don’t agree with their views on gun laws and gun control. I feel that every law abiding citizen should be able to own, purchase, and collect firearms just like other people collect cars, antiques, coins, stamps or whatever they desire. I do however believe that current gun control laws be inforced on criminals that use firearms or any other weapons during a crime should be punished to the max of the law, and be incarcerated for the balance of their life for a second offense to include possesion. The prisons should also reduce the luxury hotel setting to bare bones living and the only way to raise above the bare bones is to earn it by working. The prisoners could be given minimum wage jobs witin the prison and they could be charged for everyday living expense, caretakers and medical expenses “etc” and if there is any money left they could purchace cable and/or restricted intranet for good behavior. Manufacturers could pay into the penal system for this service and get their goods in return. This would keep criminals from using guns to commit crimes and also save millions in taxpayer dollars annually. Mentally chalenged people should also be denied ownership of firearms at least on a case by case basis or at least be supervised during the use of firearms..