One of the most popular arguments against assault rifle ownership being a part of the Second Amendment is that the founders “never would have imagined such weapons”. I disagree:
The Girandoni Air Rifle. You probably didn’t watch the video, so allow me to summarize. The rifle was carried by Lewis and Clark and manufactured in 1779, as in, before the American Revolution was over. It fired over 30 rounds in a tube magazine and while not a pure semi-automatic, it was a repeating rifle that could put those 30 rounds downrange at about 1 per second. Consider that a Marine rifle qualifying in the rapid fire portion is expected to fire 10 times in one minute as a matter or perspective.
One of the popular retorts of the pro-gun crowd is that if the second amendment protects only muskets, then the first would only protect the printing press. I’d like to expand on that. I would submit that the leap of imagination required to go from a single shot musket (and definitely a Girandoni Air Rifle to the AR-15 is a MONUMENTALLY smaller step than going from the printing press to the internet!
