Novelist James Patterson recently revealed to his X followers that, while he may be an expert writing fiction, heās not so hot when it comes to history, after his misfired, error-filled attack on the Second Amendment.
Patterson, author of thrillers including āAlong Came a Spider,ā part of his popular Alex Cross detective series, played the part of a good little liberal in a Friday post on X where he read the minds of our founding fathers ā and missed the mark by a mile ā used ill-defined words, proved uninformed about our American Revolution, and showed he clearly doesnāt know gun laws in the U.S.
The writer was seen lamenting that Americans can have āmachine Gunsā and insisted that the founders wouldnāt want āfarm boysā to have them.
āI write about assault weapons more than Iād like to. I believe their place is in the hands of law officers and our military,ā he wrote to kick off his uninformed, anti-Second Amendment screed. āI honestly donāt see why anyone else needs to have a machine gun,ā he wrote.
And, gosh darn it, he was ā99.999%ā sure of his assault weapons facts, donāt you know?
āIām 99.999% sure that Tom Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Washington, and the Adams boys did not foresee assault rifles in the hands of farm boys back in the 18th century, when they were writing the Second Amendment. Muskets and flintlock pistols fired a single shot in about 20 seconds,ā he bloviated with a pedestrian argument that has been debunked time and again.
Each of his anti-Second Amendment assertions ā and they are merely assertions, not facts ā are typical, liberal drivel that have been debunked many times.
Firstly, the idea that only the police and military should have the best weaponry runs completely contrary to the ideals of the very founders he invokes. The founders did not trust a super-powerful government and wanted the āfarm boysā of the nation to have similar power. So, allowing only cops and soldiers to have the most up-to-date weapons is an anti-American idea.
Secondly, he clearly does not know what a āmachine gunā even is because fully automatic rifles are already effectively outlawed since it takes expensive licenses and strict regulations for an American to own one. The average person has no access at all to a true āmachine gun.ā
Moving on to his proclamation that he is ā99.999% sureā that the founders didnāt āforesee assault rifles in the hands of farm boys back in the 18th century,ā well, he is entirely wrong. The founders wanted what was at the time the top-of-the-line āassault rifleā in the hands of every adult who was 17 years of age and up.
The flintlock musket with attaching bayonet that Patterson references was the premier military weapon of war of the day. And the founders did not state that they wanted people to have āsingle-shot muskets.ā They said they wanted Americans to have āfirearms.ā They used that more generic term because they knew full well that technology would advance and so would weapons design and manufacturing.
Indeed, national talk show host Dana Loesch schooled the scribbler right away.
āWell, youāre 99.999% wrong,ā Loesch wrote. āThe founders wouldāve purchased repeating flintlocks for war except for price. Jefferson owned a Girandoni rifle later adopted by the Austrian military. The Puckle gun was considered the 1st machine gun & predates the Constitution. You clearly donāt know the difference between a semi auto, select fire, or full auto capabilities. To quote the great Jeff Lebowski, āthatās just like, your opinion man.'ā
Of course, Pattersonās foolishness is amusing in light of the fact that he is using a computer to post information on the Internet to exercise his First Amendment right to free speech all despite that the Founders ādidnāt forsee mass communications in the hands of farm boys back in the 18th century,ā if I may paraphrase.
Holding to Pattersonās absurd reading of the Second Amendment would mean he has no free speech on modern devices of communication simply because they were modes of communication invented after the Constitution was ratified.
Others also blasted Patterson for his dumbed-down, left-wing drivel.
āYouāre wrong. Of course the Founders could perceive of a future in which Guns get better. During their time, gun tech was rapidly improving,ā Jordan Schachtel replied. āWhy do I need a rifle? See: Hamas paragliders/ infinite amount of circumstances in which a community may face multiple aggressors.ā
More joined in to blast Pattersonās conceit.
Finally, itās easy to bat down the leftās argument that āwell-regulated militiaā means a militia that is controlled by government regulation.
At the time, āwell-regulatedā simply meant organized and in order. It did not mean controlled by government rules and regulations.
In fact, the founders did not really intend the creation of the regulatory state that we have today where the federal government writes rules for how we should lead our daily lives. On top of that āthe militiaā was the same as āthe people.ā
In the end, the U.S. Supreme Courtās Heller decision was the right call. The Second Amendment is not a semi-right meant only to be exercised if you are serving in a āmilitia.ā It is an individual right meant for each citizen, 17 and over, to be able to exercise at will.
James Patterson needs to stick with his little world of make-believe stories because the fields of reality, truth, and history are not his forte.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
