Look at hidden history of Second Amendment

Sen. Chuck Grassley's irony-free assertion that “ ... millions of Americans fear that the president might take executive action and Congress may enact legislation that would lead to a tyrannical federal government” would be laughable, except that he sits in the Senate, apparently in perpetuity. How exactly, within the context of our dense web of checks and balances, would that work?

Since 1977, when it was commandeered by extremists, the National Rifle Association, once a reputable organization, has been in the service of the gun-manufacturing lobby, nurturing the very “insurrectionist” sentiments parroted by Grassley, and promoting the false belief that “the founders” were, themselves, just such insurrectionists. They were, in fact, not, with the possible exception of Thomas Jefferson. (I don't like being snookered. Do you?)

The Second Amendment was but a political expediency, offered up by James Madison, who actually understood how the Constitution works, to appease a raucous faction of anti-federalists, and so grease the wheels of functioning Constitutional governance. It was not handed down by God.

And so you have a brief summary of how the current insanity evolved. But I implore readers to take a look at the hidden history of the Second Amendment, which was penned by a legal scholar and can be located online, for further details and draw their own conclusions.

Cindy Adhikari

Cedar Rapids