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The Right to Bear Arms (a found poem)

By W. D. Ehrhart

I. Anno Domini 1789

Typical weapon of the time:
Land Pattern Musket (aka "Brown Bess")
Length: 4 feet, 8 inches
Weight: 10 & 1/2 pounds
Action: muzzle-loaded flintlock
Rate of fire: 3 rounds per minute in very skilled hands
Muzzle velocity: 785 feet per second
Effective range: 50 yards

II. 2018 Christian Era

Typical weapon of the time:
AR-15 (aka "America's Rifle"*)
Length: 3 feet, 3 inches
Weight: 7 & 1/2 pounds
Action: semi-automatic with 10, 20, or 30-round magazine
Rate of fire: 60 rounds a minute (in the hands of a rank amateur)
       120 rounds a minute (in the hands of an adrenalin-charged killer)
Muzzle velocity: 3,300 feet per second Effective range: 600 meters

*nickname coined by the National Rifle Association

— W. D. Ehrhart