# Explain machine guns and the 2nd Amendment to me.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-machine-guns-and-the-2nd-amendment-to-me/644380>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [December 18, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-machine-guns-and-the-2nd-amendment-to-me/644380 "2012-12-18T00:55:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-machine-guns-and-the-2nd-amendment-to-me/644380/121 "2013-01-10T18:14:51Z")

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> [@Magiver](#):
>
> yes it was. Mortars and howitzers (with exploding shells) were used in the Revolutionary war.

Holy crap!

You’re right! (Thanks for the education.)

For some reason I thought they were invented some time just before the U.S. Civil War.

But anywho, civilians owned cannon. See the American Privateers of the Revolutionary and War of 1812. They outfitted their own ships, and took a cut of the prize money.

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