[spunkets]

What the hell is all this talk about commas. The sentence consists of a complete thought, That is: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The subject of the sentence is the right and the complex verb accompanied by the adverb causing the negative command is shall not be infringed. The phrase identifying who the right belongs to is of the people. It is the right of the people that shall not be infringed, not any collective right whatsoever, that includes the collectives called States. The alternative is the absurd construction that amounts to a claim that the govm't has the right to keep and bear arms.

[theothercheek]

This is how lawyers make a living - parsing, deconstructing. If Bill Clinton - a lawyer - can dispute the meaning of the word “is” then this comma thing will go on forever.