A growing body of serious research, led by eminent professors, historians, lawyers and Constitutional scholars, is providing overwhelming evidence that “the people” of the Second Amendment refers to you and me.That introduction is from the March 2007 issue of GUNS Magazine, where I review attorney and author David T. Hardy's new documentary, "In Search of the Second Amendment."
My conclusion:
David Hardy has given us an important tool to use in educating ourselves and others.Here's a brief summary about Mr. Hardy and his film:
David T. Hardy served as producer and director of In Search of the Second Amendment. He is an attorney and Second Amendment author, whose 1974 law review article, “Of Arms and the Law” played a key role in beginning the academic rediscovery of the Second Amendment.And now on to the interview...
Hardy is author of five books, including “Origins and Development of the Second Amendment” and the N.Y. Times bestseller “Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man,” which rebutted Moore’s slander of the NRA, Charlton Heston, and gun owners. He is also author of twelve law review articles, including one on firearms laws that has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and eleven of the thirteen U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.
“I spent thirty years researching the right to arms, and four years of my life creating this film. My purpose was to produce something not only educational, but compelling. There’s been enough preaching to the choir. I wanted to produce something that would win hearts and minds, that would convert anyone with an halfway open mind into someone who appreciates and values the American right to arms.”
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DC: There are plenty of books on the subject of the Second Amendment. Why do we need a DVD?
DH: There are indeed plenty of books on the right to arms -- almost all of them written by people interviewed in the documentary. If you want a thorough grounding in the Second Amendment, you can buy 2-3-4 of them, and spend a week or two reading them and trying to memorize their content. Or you can watch the movie, and learn all you need to know in two hours. And this time, you'll remember it all.
It's also great for educating your children, and winning over the undecided. A week's reading assignment will be a chore for the first, and laughed off by the second. Offer them an entertaining and educational movie, and you'll win them over.
I mean -- how many people have read a book on 18th century naval history, but watched "Master and Commander?"
DC: Give us a synopsis of your video—what should someone who is thinking of buying it expect?
DH: The *complete* story of the right to arms, beginning with the earliest Britsh law, moving forward to the colonies, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. From there to the earliest American legal commentators, all of whom said it was an individual right. Then the Black experience -- disarmed under Slave Codes, and then under the Black Codes, which led to the 14th Amendment (1868), which was meant to stop state disarmaments of people. Then the use of arms in the civil rights period -- "nonviolence" got the press, but a lot of civil rights workers survived because they were armed. Finally, the current value of the right to arms, genocide, preservation of democracy, 2.5 million defensive uses per year.
This isn't me talking (I do the narration, just to fill gaps) but twelve professors of constitutional law, attorneys, Prof. Kleck on the 2.5 million uses, two armed civil rights workers.
DC: What do you say to someone who says times have changed, that history is interesting but not relevant to the present? After all, it’s not like we have citizen militias any more.
DH: And we saw the impact of that in Hurricane Katrina. Organize people, and they're a pack. Don't, and in a disaster they become a helpless herd.
Several of the professors address just that question. At a practical level, Prof. Reynolds discusses how his idea of an international right to arms, to prevent genocide, is gaining some traction. Prof. Kleck discusses 2.5 million defensive uses. Two attorneys discuss how the police have no legal duty to protect you.
And Prof. Barnett points out that if people want others to respect their rights, they must be prepared to respect our rights to arms; any method that can be used to destroy the second amendment can be used to destroy any other right, as well.
DC: Who is your audience, or put another way, what’s your plan to get your message outside the circle of gun owners who agree with you, especially to people who have formed their opinions based on what they learned in school or picked up from the mainstream media?
DH: My first effort is to get it out there -- which means to activists. They can become an Army of Davids, to use Prof. Reynolds' book title. With this DVD, each gunowner can become a one-man or one-woman PR firm for the right to arms.
From there, I can try to expand, to radio talk shows, that manner of thing, and carry the message further.
To help them with that, I put a license on the website. After April 1, any purchaser can show the DVD on local cable TV without limit. The antis have no comparable tool. We can swamp them.
DC: You make a point of illustrating the role firearms played in the defense of civil rights. Why is it that today’s minority leaders not only don’t tell their followers about this history, but many actively promote citizen disarmament in the very communities where individuals are most at risk from violence?
DH: I suspect it's largely a matter of fashion. "Nonviolence" caught the media eye, and nobody is going to go against that tide. But the civil rights workers I have in the film said that, while the leadership back in New York or wherever was appealing to nonviolence, most civil rights workers went nowhere without a gun. One says that when he came into the office after being chased by the Klan, all the others asked him why he didn't use his gun, and he was startled when one pulled a revolver out of his pocket, gave it to him, and said it was a loaner, he had another one in the car.
DC: Do you think a bunch of academics are going to appeal to “ordinary” people?
DH: These ones will. All are incredibly articulate -- no eggheads here. Actually, law profs are rarely eggheads. They're training people to survive in a courtroom, not a library.
DC: Are you getting much help spreading the word from pro-gun organizations, gun magazines, websites, etc.?
DH: Some. NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund was very, very helpful. Gun Owners' Foundation helped, too. Paladin Press and Ruger helped as well.
Gun Owners and JPFO have ordered some to distribute, and some gun bloggers have helped to promote it. I've sent review copies to a number of gun magazines, but the only response has been from Gun Week, Soldier of Fortune, and you.
DC: What can supporters do to help you promote this documentary and expand its audience?
DH: Get one, or better yet two, and give the spare to your school or library. Show it on cable TV. If you have an email list, tell them about it.
DC: Assuming you recoup your production costs, what are your plans to grow your audience?
DH: If I can make enough, I'd like to start running ads (I had only enough for one to date) to get it out there. I'd also like to hire a publicist to lobby for radio talk show coverage.
I may this year start work on a followup that will deal with the history of the modern gun and antigun movements. I've got 30 years of research there, too. There's history there, and nobody's getting younger. We've already lost the two key players, Harlon Carter and Neal Knox.
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I'd like to thank Mr. Hardy for participating in this interview, and for putting up with my playing "Devil's Advocate" on a few of these questions.He has agreed to check in from time to time today to answer questions from WarOnGuns visitors. Please--it will be appreciated if everyone follows a few simple ground rules: Stay on topic, give others a chance, and keep your question brief. Just post your question below as a "Comment," and he will do the same--please also note that we don't expect him to be hostage to his keyboard all day waiting for queries to pop up. It's OK to ask a question if his answer to the previous one hasn't appeared yet--he'll get to them as he checks in.
I haven't established a cut-off time for this--he'll let us know when he needs to check out.
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Here's how you can order your own copy of "In Search of the Second Amendment":
Send check or money order for 24.95, plus $2 s&h (Arizona residents add $1.52 sales tax) to:
Second Amendment Films
8987 E. Tanque Verde
PMB 265
Tucson AZ 85749
Or click on the "Buy Now" Visa/Mastercard icon in the left margin of the documentary website.
UPDATE: INTERVIEW OVER, THANKS FOR CHECKING IN, BUT THIS TOOK PLACE FOR ONE DAY ONLY, SO COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED.