Changes

Republican civil rights activist and attorney Albion W. Tourgée wrote that, within regions of the South under the control of the Klan, "almost universally the first thing done was to disarm the negroes and leave them defenseless."<ref>Kopel, David B. (2012). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Truth_About_Gun_Control/YdrYAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 The Truth about Gun Control], p. 12. ''Google Books''. Retrieved January 22, 2023.</ref>

Republican civil rights activist and attorney Albion W. Tourgée wrote that, within regions of the South under the control of the Klan, "almost universally the first thing done was to disarm the negroes and leave them defenseless."<ref>Kopel, David B. (2012). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Truth_About_Gun_Control/YdrYAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 The Truth about Gun Control], p. 12. ''Google Books''. Retrieved January 22, 2023.</ref>

==Leftist deflections==

==Contemporary leftist distraction attempts==

In his 2002 "documentary" "Bowling for Columbine," conspiracy theorist [[Michael Moore]] ludicrously distracted from the Ku Klux Klan's gun control history by claiming that the Klan was linked to the [[National Rifle Association]] due to the similar time of establishment. Even the liberal [[Washington Post]] soundly debunked Moore's assertions, stating:<ref>Smyth, Frank (June 5, 2020). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-the-national-rifle-association/2020/06/05/fa3bc488-a66c-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html Five myths about the National Rifle Association]. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved January 22, 2023.</ref>

In his 2002 "documentary" "Bowling for Columbine," conspiracy theorist [[Michael Moore]] ludicrously distracted from the Ku Klux Klan's gun control history by claiming that the Klan was linked to the [[National Rifle Association]] due to the similar time of establishment. Even the liberal [[Washington Post]] soundly debunked Moore's assertions, stating:<ref>Smyth, Frank (June 5, 2020). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-the-national-rifle-association/2020/06/05/fa3bc488-a66c-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html Five myths about the National Rifle Association]. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved January 22, 2023.</ref>

{{cquote|Documents from the era, including an exhaustive tome by NRA co-founder William Conant Church, show that this isn’t true. The early NRA, founded at the peak of Reconstruction in 1871, never went much farther than its shooting range outside Manhattan, and played no role in the South during Reconstruction or for years thereafter. Church and other early NRA leaders, nearly all of whom were veteran Union officers, unequivocally supported President Ulysses S. Grant’s efforts to crush the Klan.}}

{{cquote|Documents from the era, including an exhaustive tome by NRA co-founder William Conant Church, show that this isn’t true. The early NRA, founded at the peak of Reconstruction in 1871, never went much farther than its shooting range outside Manhattan, and played no role in the South during Reconstruction or for years thereafter. Church and other early NRA leaders, nearly all of whom were veteran Union officers, unequivocally supported President Ulysses S. Grant’s efforts to crush the Klan.}}