American History Lesson
for President Biden

Perhaps you heard President Joe Biden (D), when defending his new gun-control efforts, claim: "The Second Amendment, from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn't buy a cannon."

Sorry, President Biden, you are wrong again.

The evidence is clear that ordinary citizens could and did buy cannons; in fact, many Americans own cannons today.

This 1789 ad by the Military Laboratory in Philadelphia informed "Owners and Commanders of Armed Vessels may be supplied, for either of the use of Small Arms or Cannon, at the shortest notice, with every species of MILITARY STORES." It lists "Rammers, sponges, worms and ladles," "Gunner's handspikes" and "Cannon and musket cartridge boxes of every size," among other tools used for cannon. (Oh, and it also advertised: "Hand grenadoes, filled and fused.") This is an ad aimed at armed merchant ships, which were common at that time. Certainly, you would not be advertising to the U.S. Navy.

In 1747, the Quakers who dominated the Pennsylvania colonial legislature refused to organize and arm a militia to deal with an impending threat of invasion. Benjamin Franklin organized a voluntary militia, which purchased, among other items, "some old cannon" from Boston, and borrowed some from New York. .....