146: Thom Hartmann: History of Guns and the Second Amendment

Jul 16, 2019

Thom Hartmann, often considered the most popular progressive radio host in America, invites us to an in-depth, historically informed discussion of one of the most controversial portions of the U.S. Constitution—the Second Amendment. Hartmann joined us at Town Hall with insight from his book The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment to examine the brutal role guns have played in American history, from the genocide of the Native Americans to the enforcement of slavery (Slave Patrols are in fact the Second Amendment’s “well-regulated militias”) and the racist post-Civil War social order.

He asserted that the NRA and conservative Supreme Court justices used specious logic to invent a virtually unlimited individual right to own guns, which has enabled the ever-growing number of mass shootings in the United States. Join Hartmann for an exploration of powerful, common sense solutions that have the potential to break the power of the gun lobby and restore the understanding of the Second Amendment that Hartmann asserted the Framers of the Constitution intended.

Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host whose shows are available in over a half-billion homes worldwide. He is the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored Award-winning author of 24 books in print in 17 languages on five continents. Leonardo DiCaprio was inspired by Thom’s book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight to make the movie The 11th Hour (in which Thom appears), and Warner Brothers is creating a film starring DiCaprio and Robert De Niro from the book Thom co-authored with Lamar Waldron, Legacy of Secrecy.

Recorded live in The Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle on June 23, 2019.