These words have always bothered me, “regulated Militia”. Militia to me is a uniformed group, regulated means some form of control. When does the militia drill? Where do they drill? Are they a cohesive group well disciplined and ready to follow orders? Who are their Commanders? Are they a separate branch of the military or are they a paramilitary group lead by former members of the military or a bunch of yahoos? I’m playing the devils advocate over the wording. I see no problem with a “regulated” militia, i.e. the Concord County Volunteer Militia, sort of a unit lower than the National Guard and self funded. Nothing new there, there were many during the 1860s and before that. It seems the wording is such, it depends on how you interpret the actual meaning, in that it can be suited to fit your intent.
These words have always bothered me, “regulated Militia”
There’s a comma after that part of the sentence. The comma is very important. By putting the comma there it separates the individual right to own gives it its own standing.
You are spot on.
A person needs to go back to the “original intent” and look at “standing army” compared to “militia.”
There was to be no “standing army” - an army always ready, armed and well regulated, to do the bidding of the federal government.
Instead, there were to be state militias, that could be mustered up by the federal government during times of national war. The states were in control of their militia, not the federal government. This gave the states more power and authority.
Recently (last 100 years or so), we now have a “standing army” in the power and authority of the federal government, which has obviously abused their power, over and over.
We clearly see this example during the civil war. Each “unit” was a state militia. They identified by the state where they had come from. There was no federal standing army.
Anyway, a lot has been written in the last 30 years or so on this topic regarding “original intent” of states militia, national guard, standing army, etc.
The 2nd Amendment says "well regulated Militia...". "well regulated" means properly functioning, as in a "well regulated" clock, a usage from this same period.
It is a semantic fallacy to impose current usage on this late 18th century term. We must go back to that period to understand the force of its meaning.
Further, the 2nd amendment is a contraint on Federal power, not an authorization to "regulate" the Militia. COTUS Article I, Section 8, Para 16 dictates what powers the Federal government has over the Militia.
The constitution was written from the perspective of what the founders had just experienced; a civil war against a well regulated militia, the British army. What were their feelings about an army at that time? The answer is fear. The second amendment means that because a well regulated militia (an army) is a necessary evil for the security of a free country, but also inherently dangerous to the freedom of said country, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The second amendment exists to protect the people from the government. Read some of the state versions of the right to keep and Bear arms.
“Regulated” means EQUIPPED.
The amendment means that the people must have guns so that they will be WELL-EQUIPPED to defend themselves.
Yes, sounds reasonable to ask the question, BUT: There is nothing in the wording of the amendment that even suggests that the right to keep and bear arms be limited to the militia. It simply acknowledges the desirability of and need for a militia.
-PJ
My old ROTC manual defined "well regulated" as "uniform in training and organization", in the sense of well trained and organized.
See here
Many, perhaps most people take the word incorrectly, as you do. But at the time, (and still), the meaning is "able bodied men," or "men amenable to being pressed into military service."
Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne defines “militia” explicitly in 1777, leaving zero doubts to its meaning in 1777 after the Battle of Bennington Aug 16, 1777 :
“The great bulk of the country is undoubtedly with the Congress, in principle and zeal; and their measures are executed with a Secrecy and dispatch that are not to be equaled. Wherever the king`s forces point, militia, to the amount of three or four thousand assemble in twenty-four hours; they bring with them their substance etc., the alarm over, they return to their farms. The Hampshire Grants [Vermont], in particular, a country unpeopled and almost unknown in the last war, now abounds in the most active and most rebellious race on the continent, and hangs like a gathering storm upon my left.”
-General John Burgoyne, “A State of the Expedition from Canada, as laid before the House of Commons, by Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, and Verified by Evidence; with a Collection of Authentic Documents, and an Addition of Many Circumstances Which were Prevented from Appearing before the House by the Prorogation of Parliament.
(London: J. Almon, 1780) xxv.