‘The View’ Host Claims That 2A was Intended to Protect Slavery While on ABC’s ‘One Nation Under Fire’

ABC is hosting a new program called “One Nation Under Fire” that aims to address rising rates of crime and violence in America. The show is supposedly about getting to the bottom of Americans’ current crime epidemic through a bipartisan lens. It is abundantly clear now after this most recent episode that the program is little more than provocative partisan hackery. 

The show started off with Joy Behar asking co-host Ana Navarro what her stance on the gun violence epidemic was. Navarro went into great detail about how the issue of gun violence is uniquely American. Navarro also took the time to hammer Republicans for taking donations and support from the NRA, claiming that the “Republican members of the legislature have got to get from under the grip of the NRA- which, today, is far from the club that started centuries ago.” and that “A lot of funding is coming from the gun manufacturers. It is a special interest group, and they are holding up any progress that could be made on this issue.“

Behar then tossed the question over to Sunny Hostin, Hostin immediately reaffirmed the opinions of Navarro and would then claim that the the Second Amendment was created to protect the institution of slavery during the early years of America. Sunny Hostin said “The right to bear arms was designed to protect slavery, right? Our founding fathers and others, they wanted to be able to empower a local militia group to basically put down slave revolts and protect plantation owners.“

The idea that slavery was the major influencing force the creation of the 2nd Amendment is ridiculous. The concept of allowing private citizens to keep arms in America predates not only the constitution but the very institution of slavery in the United States. The untamed wilds and lack of information about the new world was reason enough for America’s earliest settlers to bear arms of their own. The right to own firearms was even implemented in states that had little to no slaves. 

These claims by Hostin are echoed by a a New York Times article from 2018 where Op-ed writer Carl T. Bogus raises the question of if the institution of slavery influenced the 2nd Amendment. Bogus attempts in his article to connect the actions of one militia, a group that put down a slave revolt in South Carolina, to the use of the term militia in the text of the 2nd Amendment. This equally nonsensical argument completely disregards the actions of other militias(outside of major wars in America), although to Bogus’ credit he did address the implementation of militia’s in the revolutionary war. 

What both Sunny Hostin and Carl T. Bogus neglected to mention was how the 2nd Amendment was key in defending not only the rights but the lives of black Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of America’s earliest acts of gun control were specifically targeted at black Americans. “Black Codes” barred free black Americans from owning firearms and carrying firearms, during the Jim Crow era purchase permit laws were aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of black Americans who had just gained their freedom and had little money to spare, and discretionary-issue gun license policy was aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of not only black Americans but out of the hands of immigrants as well. Black Americans had to defend themselves with firearms from racial-supremacy groups like the Ku Klux Klan just after they had gained their freedom. Contrary to these claims, gun control was used to defend the institution of racism. 

As for Navarro’s claims about the NRA, historically the NRA was key in defending the rights of minorities when it came to the 2nd Amendment. The NRA was the first to defend minorities who were targeted by racist gun control laws. The NRA may not be the same NRA as it was back then, but to say that the organization is funneling in money from every direction and that they have a tight grip on policy in Washington is utter nonsense.  

It is not the NRA, gun lobbyists, or the 2nd Amendment that is preventing American from exploring a solution to violent crime, in fact it is quite the contrary, it is gun control activists who refuse to look at any other possibilities or solutions who stifle any productive discussion on America’s crime problem. Anytime the issue of crime, violent crime in particular, is brought up the gun control activists are back again with the same ideas, ideas that do not work and only serve to strip law abiding citizens of their God given rights. The issue of violent crime will never be addressed so long as these activists and politicians continue to keep their blinders on.