Posted on 09/11/2024 5:05:59 AM PDT by marktwain
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (August 23, 2024) and the Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (August 27, 2024) reached opposite opinions on whether bladed weapons qualify as arms mentioned in the text of the Second Amendment.
In 2008, the Supreme Court examined the meaning of the words in the amendment. Heller found the meaning of “arms” to be the same at the time of the ratification of the Second Amendment as it is today. From Heller:
Before addressing the verbs “keep” and “bear,” we interpret their object: “Arms.” The 18th-century meaning is no different from the meaning today. The 1773 edition of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary defined “arms” as “weapons of offence, or armour of defence.” 1 Dictionary of the English Language 107 (4th ed.) (hereinafter Johnson). Timothy Cunningham’s important 1771 legal dictionary defined “arms” as “any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another.”
This is directly from the Heller decision. It is not dicta. It is Justice Anthony Scalia directly explaining what the words in the Second Amendment mean. The Massachusetts Supreme Court quotes Scalia, from the Heller decision, in its opinion about whether knives are “arms” referred to in the text of the Second Amendment. From the case of Commonwealth v Canjura, published on August 27, 2024:
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Knives, swords, axes, slingshots they are all “arms.” 2Amd does not specify what sort of arms . It just says RKBA shall not be infringed. If I want to buy an M1 Abrams fully functional, on my Social Security I have a right to keep that and bear it, too. There is no “Except” in the amendment.
To say knives are not arms is to ignore thousands of years of history where armies have fought with swords and knives.
Some colonialists had artillery.
And what is “bearing” arms anyway?
Is that simply marching in formation, or can the arms actually be used against tyrants?
And what is “tyranny”?
Killing the soldiers that came to take guns from colonists in Lexington and Concord was considered a justified act.
The Communist stooge-"judge" is 45 years old, and will continue to plague patriotic Americans for decades.
Simmons decision:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.casd.754628/gov.uscourts.casd.754628.50.0.pdf
How abouts swords? I would say they are definitely arms.
The courts are so screwed up and filled with pea brain liberals.
I hate to identify a writing error two days in a row, but Scalia's first name was Antonin.
Thank you for the correction. Names should never be misspelled, and are not really subject to spell check.
Before there were firearms, there were arms: swords, knives, clubs etc.
The word “firearm” is merely a derivation of the word arm.
Why are some of these judges so stupid?
Was watching a cop show and a fella had a “fixed blade” hu ting knife in his truck. Cop told him it was “agaisnt the law 5o carry a fixed blade knife”
Never heard anything like that before? We carry fixed blades when hunting all the time- they are the knife of choice for hunting, as the blades won’t accidently fold and slice the hand when field dressing deer or bear.
It’s my understanding that the term ‘arms’ means that which you can carry....gun, knife, sword, etc..
Not sure what state the cop show was in- so can’t speak to the laws there-
The article mentions the “dangerous and unusual” standard in many states laws. The 2nd amendment does not carry this provision.
If it gets back up to the Supreme Court, and the conservative justices are sufficiently tired of this stuff, they may additionally strike down “dangerous and unusual “ language, and thus allow open and concealed carry of axes and swords.
Legality depends on location. In the People’s Republic of Maryland, the General Lunatic Asylum they call the Legislature has some really weird knife laws.
It’s illegal to carry a Bowie Knife. (While there is a common understanding of Bowie Knife, there is no actual legal definition)
It’s illegal to carry a switchblade with the intent to harm others. I’ve asked cops and lawyers how to interpret that one. Blank looks are the response.
Yeah, my state has a length limit on fixed blades, or at least they did, maybe they are banned altogether now, I don’t know.
knives have been a vital part of every soldier and militia member’s kit since the roman legion
essentially, anything that can be used to save your life is covered.
to suggest otherwise is beyond absurd
well... denying people the ability to buy body armor or any other protective gear is obviously a violation of the 2nd Amendment...
Hell, let’s ban knives and forks and spoons while we’re at it.
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