2-18-1872: Reports of the Congressional Committee–Majority and Minority, "people of these States were denied the use of arms; when arson, rape, robbery and murder were things of daily occurrence . . . the principal object of the ku klux visitation was to search for these very arms..."

Reports of the Congressional Committee–Majority and Minority, “The emancipated slave regiments parade in State or Federal uniforms, armed cap-a-pie with the most approved weapons, paid for by taxation imposed on their former masters, while white men are denied the right to bear arms or to ORGANIZE AS MILITIA for the protection of their houses, their property or the persons of their wives and children. . . . When the negroes were formed into militia organizations, and the white people of these States were denied the use of arms; when arson, rape, robbery and murder were things of daily occurrence . . . the principal object of the ku klux visitation was to search for these very arms distributed among them by the governor”, Feb. 18, 1872