{"id":1523886,"date":"2022-06-20T11:34:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T15:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1523886"},"modified":"2022-06-20T11:34:39","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T15:34:39","slug":"fact-check-were-american-militiamen-limited-to-one-musket-and-24-bullets-in-1791","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-were-american-militiamen-limited-to-one-musket-and-24-bullets-in-1791\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Were American Militiamen Limited To One Musket And 24 Bullets In 1791?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-were-american-militiamen-limited-to-one-musket-and-24-bullets-in-1791%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1523886&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A post\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MickeyMM1\/posts\/pfbid0TvEPGkCHjjUuwazFEcDDZRLntcnYmTdMd96rYbuGDVvytjNiC3Wz9om6CjsgxiTXl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MickeyMM1\/posts\/pfbid0TvEPGkCHjjUuwazFEcDDZRLntcnYmTdMd96rYbuGDVvytjNiC3Wz9om6CjsgxiTXl&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1655405223825000&#038;usg=AOvVaw19cv_VPkaGLarOPQb5RDFB\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims that when the Second Amendment was enacted in 1791 militiamen were limited to owning one musket and 24 bullets.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: Misleading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The claim appears to be misstating a 1792 law that required American militiamen to have at least one \u201cgood musket or firelock\u201d and \u201cnot less than twenty four cartridges.\u201d The law set a minimum requirement, not a maximum one, according to experts.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Facebook post claims that when the Second Amendment was ratified, \u201ca well regulated militia was restricted to 1 musket, 2 spare flints and 24 bullets? They had to register and at anytime the gov could enter their home, take away their weapon and remove them from the rolls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, this claim is misleading. <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/robertspitzercortland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert J. Spitzer<\/a>, a professor emeritus of political science at the State University of New York, College at Cortland, told Check Your Fact in an email statement that the reference to \u201c1 musket, 2 spare flints, and 24 bullets\u201d is likely a \u201cmisguided reference\u201d to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/education\/primary-sources-2\/article\/militia-act-of-1792\/#:~:text=The%20Militia%20Act%20of%201792,Militia%20throughout%20the%20United%20States\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1792 Uniformed Militia Act.<\/a> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2022\/06\/06\/fact-check-joe-biden-claim-second-amendment-cannons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Joe Biden Claims Individuals Could Not Buy Cannons When The Second Amendment Was Enacted)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt required militia-eligible men to obtain (at their own expense) \u2018a good musket or firelock,\u2019 meaning a military-grade firearm, and \u2018a box therein to contain not less than twenty four cartridges\u2019 plus the other items necessary to fire and maintain the musket,\u201d explained Spitzer. \u201cIt was a minimum, not a maximum. Each state also had similar state laws by this time, though similar laws dated to the colonial period. Such laws were ineffective, however, because Congress did not include any enforcement mechanism, and these laws were widely ignored by militia-eligible men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an email statement to Check Your Fact, Independence Institute research director <a href=\"https:\/\/i2i.org\/about\/our-people\/dave-kopel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Kopel<\/a> likewise argued that the \u201cThe quote is a deceptive misstatement of Congress\u2019s Uniform Militia Act of 1792\u201d and that in \u201c1791, there were zero restrictions in state or federal law about maximum quantities of arms or ammunition that a person could possess.\u201d On the claim that militiamen had to register their weapons, Kopel said it was \u201cfalse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt periodic musters, militiamen would have to show up for training with the required equipment. A militiamen could be fined for not having such equipment, and the local officers might send a report to state militia officers about how many men did or did not have the requisite equipment. There was no registration. At the time, guns did not have serial numbers,\u201d Kopel explained. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2018\/05\/23\/fact-check-nra-mark-warner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Did The NRA Support Mark Warner As A Governor?)\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordham.edu\/info\/20762\/faculty\/6385\/saul_cornell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saul Cornell<\/a>, a history professor at Fordham University, told Check Your Fact in an email that the \u201cspecific claims\u2026are not correct\u201d but \u201crest on some accurate claims about Founding era laws.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the early American government encouraged citizens to acquire military muskets or rifles but that \u201cThose weapons were subject to inspection, and one could be disarmed for a number of reasons, the most important being a refusal to swear a loyalty oath to the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOrganizing the militia required keeping track of who had weapons, what condition they were in, and involved inspection of those weapons and fines for failing to properly store weapons and maintain them in good working order,\u201d said Cornell. \u201cSomething akin to a type of registration was present; the vast majority of white men were required to participate in the militia and their weapons were regulated, but not in the precise manner that you have been asked to fact check.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A post\u00a0shared on Facebook claims that when the Second Amendment was enacted in 1791 militiamen were limited to owning one musket and 24 bullets.Verdict: MisleadingThe claim appears to be misstating<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1523886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1523886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1523886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1523886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}