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| Thread: The Not-So-Wild West: modern redefintions of history | |
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blizzardboy
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Nerf Herder
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posted November 02, 2015 04:58 AM |
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The Not-So-Wild West: modern redefinitions of history
Somewhat of a sequel to my previous thread, The NRA that once supported gun control, to help clear up some very common misconceptions held by both Americans and foreigners about 19th century America, and how it relates (or rather, how it doesn't relate) to the contemporary gun culture of America today.
Question: Did the Wild West Have More Gun Control Than We Do Today?
After a decision by the Supreme Court affirming the right of individuals to own guns, then-Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sarcastically said, "Then why don't we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, you have a gun and I have a gun and we'll settle it in the streets?" This is a common refrain heard in the gun debate. Gun control advocates fear -- and gun rights proponents sometimes hope -- the Second Amendment will transform our cities into modern-day versions of Dodge.
Yet this is all based on a widely shared misunderstanding of the Wild West. Frontier towns -- places like Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge -- actually had the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation.
In fact, many of those same cities have far less burdensome gun control today then they did back in the 1800s.
Guns were obviously widespread on the frontier. Out in the untamed wilderness, you needed a gun to be safe from bandits, natives, and wildlife. In the cities and towns of the West, however, the law often prohibited people from toting their guns around. A visitor arriving in Wichita, Kansas in 1873, the heart of the Wild West era, would have seen signs declaring, "Leave Your Revolvers At Police Headquarters, and Get a Check."
A check? That's right. When you entered a frontier town, you were legally required to leave your guns at the stables on the outskirts of town or drop them off with the sheriff, who would give you a token in exchange. You checked your guns then like you'd check your overcoat today at a Boston restaurant in winter. Visitors were welcome, but their guns were not.
In my new book, Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America, there's a photograph taken in Dodge City in 1879. Everything looks exactly as you'd imagine: wide, dusty road; clapboard and brick buildings; horse ties in front of the saloon. Yet right in the middle of the street is something you'd never expect. There's a huge wooden billboard announcing, "The Carrying of Firearms Strictly Prohibited."
While people were allowed to have guns at home for self-protection, frontier towns usually barred anyone but law enforcement from carrying guns in public.
When Dodge City residents organized their municipal government, do you know what the very first law they passed was? A gun control law. They declared that "any person or persons found carrying concealed weapons in the city of Dodge or violating the laws of the State shall be dealt with according to law." Many frontier towns, including Tombstone, Arizona--the site of the infamous "Shootout at the OK Corral"--also barred the carrying of guns openly.
Today in Tombstone, you don't even need a permit to carry around a firearm. Gun rights advocates are pushing lawmakers in state after state to do away with nearly all limits on the ability of people to have guns in public.
Like any law regulating things that are small and easy to conceal, the gun control of the Wild West wasn't always perfectly enforced. But statistics show that, next to drunk and disorderly conduct, the most common cause of arrest was illegally carrying a firearm. Sheriffs and marshals took gun control seriously.
Although some in the gun community insist that more guns equals less crime, in the Wild West they discovered that gun control can work. Gun violence in these towns was far more rare than we commonly imagine. Historians who've studied the numbers have determined that frontier towns averaged less than two murders a year. Granted, the population of these towns was small. Nevertheless, these were not places where duels at high noon were commonplace. In fact, they almost never occurred.
Why is our image of the Wild West so wrong? Largely for the same reason these towns adopted gun control laws in the first place: economic development. Residents wanted limits on guns in public because they wanted to attract businesspeople and civilized folk. What prospective storeowner was going to move to Deadwood if he was likely to be robbed when he brought his daily earnings to the bank?
Once the frontier was closed, those same towns glorified a supposedly violent past in order to attract tourists and the businesses to serve them. Gunfights were extremely rare in frontier towns, but these days you can see a reenactment of the one at the OK Corral several times a day. Don't forget to buy a souvenir!
The story of guns in America is far more complex and surprising than we've often been led to believe. We've always had a right to bear arms, but we've also always had gun control. Even in the Wild West, Americans balanced these two and enacted laws restricting guns in order to promote public safety. Why should it be so hard to do the same today?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/did-the-wild-west-have-mo_b_956035.html
Hope you enjoyed the read.
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"Folks, I don't trust children. They're here to replace us."
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Elodin
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Legendary Hero
Free Thinker
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posted November 02, 2015 08:32 AM |
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The founding fathets said we have the right to be at all times armed. Anyone who has to turn over his arms in Dodge City has his civil rights violated.
Quote:
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
- Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824
Rather than the left twisting the Constitution to attempt to deny others the right to keep and carry firearms they should seek a constutional ammendment that says we do not have the right to keep or carry arms.
Quote:
"On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823
One thing is for certain. Gun control laws only hurt the innocent. Going around unarmed is like a sheep frolicking in front of wolves. That was true in the old west and remains true today and is one reason the right to keep and carry arms is included in the Constitution.
Quote:
"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
- Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776
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Revelation
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Tsar-Ivor
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Scourge of God
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posted November 02, 2015 08:51 AM |
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Quote:
While people were allowed to have guns at home for self-protection, frontier towns usually barred anyone but law enforcement from carrying guns in public.
I'm assuming that frontier towns had that nostalgic homey feel where the sheriff was the big daddy and everyone trusted him with their general safety. The problem with the US is not the overwhelming amount of firearms but the paranoia that law enforcement simply can't be trusted, they're as liable to shoot you as to save you. Not to mention the US' daily infringement of basic human rights and civil liberties afforded by the constitution I can't exactly say I blame people for their paranoia.
You have the right to carry firearms, but the small frontier communities must have come to an agreement that carrying guns in public is detrimental to their safety and order (still had guns at home for that late-night thief or intruder or hunting or for pests). This was only possible because they trusted the sheriff's ability with not only safeguarding them, but also trusted his moral integrity. These are severely lacking today imho.
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"No laughs were had. There is only shame and sadness." Jenny
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blizzardboy
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Nerf Herder
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posted November 02, 2015 02:15 PM |
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Having everything plastered on the internet through smartphones doesn't mean police brutality & corruption is increasing (the opposite is far more likely).
Don't have data though (not like it matters since you can always find data that agrees with whatever you feel like believing). Just using an educated guess.
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"Folks, I don't trust children. They're here to replace us."
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Tsar-Ivor
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Scourge of God
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posted November 02, 2015 07:53 PM |
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Quote:
Having everything plastered on the internet through smartphones doesn't mean police brutality & corruption is increasing (the opposite is far more likely)
I think it has more to do with psychology rather than any increase in police brutality. People (Eloding what's your input on this?) simply don't trust/believe the law enforcement is competent/trustworthy, that's my take on it anyway, and it would make sense, they can't necessarily safeguard themselves effectively by buying a crap ton of guns and ammo, but it helps sate their feelings of insecurity.
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"No laughs were had. There is only shame and sadness." Jenny
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Stevie
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posted November 02, 2015 09:02 PM |
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fuChris
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Master to the Speed of Light
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posted November 02, 2015 09:40 PM |
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Elodin said:
One thing is for certain. Gun control laws only hurt the innocent. Going around unarmed is like a sheep frolicking in front of wolves. That was true in the old west and remains true today and is one reason the right to keep and carry arms is included in the Constitution.
Obviously it can not work in the capitalist wasteland that is the US but the rest of the civilized world is working just fine without everyone having guns.
Case and point Australia. Ever since they had gun reform done gun-related crime became almost nonexistant. Turns out that if criminals need to spend 40K$ to buy a handgun on the black market then they are more likely to spend the money on something else instead.
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"Now I am become Chris, the destroyer of worlds." - Robert Oppenheimer.
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fred79
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Undefeatable Hero
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posted November 02, 2015 11:37 PM |
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@ fuChris: australia also doesn't have a mexico on it's border. 
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