[kerryusama04]

Much is assured us by the Bill of Rights - but much is also expected of us.

[spanalot]

OMG - do you mean the left was misleading us all these years - that the 2nd most important amendment means what it says?

[Hang'emAll]

One of the best to the point articles about the Second Amendment that I have read. Bookmarked for future reference.

[ansel12]

"Then, United States vs. Miller held that a sawed-off shotgun was subject to registration because there was no evidence before the court that it had a military use."


Can someone explain how that was not successfully argued by the pro 2nd side.

[Cinnamon]

OMG!! OMG!! the 2nd ammendment means what it says...

[MilesVeritatis]

I like Pennsylvania's state constitution:

"The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."

Now my question is why do people in Harrisburg question it?

[Disambiguator]

When adopted by the states, the Second Amendment generated no controversy. State and federal militia laws required citizens to keep arms and ammunition in their homes.

The greater concern, as articulated by the great orator Patrick Henry, was how to provide guns to those who could not afford them.

This is interesting in that if any modern legislator promoted either or both these positions, they would be roasted by the LSM. That's "progress" for you.

[jla]

Gun control advocates point to the militia clause of the Second Amendment, arguing that it warrants a collective, rather than an individual, right to keep and bear arms.

Gun control advocates are then historically ignorant and not overly bright.
Before the 2nd amend was ratified personal gun ownership was common and widespread. I would confidently say that if one walked around any town in 18 c. America after it's ratification most men would be carrying an arm, or own one, two, or more. If the intent was against private ownership then were is the record of the mass confiscation that surely would have occurred? (Note to lurking liberal: there wasn't one).
Any 'militia' were required, a great majority of the time, to report carrying their own arms, which they took back home with them.
The Founders intent must be read in the language, (and the meaning of it's usage), of the time.
The Founders, fully endorsed private gun ownership. As a matter of fact they would have thought it unwise for one not to have arms.

[Ajnin]

Gun control advocates point to the militia clause of the Second Amendment, arguing that it warrants a collective, rather than an individual, right to keep and bear arms.

Of course they do, what can you expect from people that believe Bush created global warming, Hurricane Katrina, the Indonesian Tsunami and after all that, still found time to go to Iraq and kill 100,000 innocent babies and unicorns. Militia is defined by statute. Title 10 USC 311 defines the militia in two parts, organized and unorganized. The organized being all males and females between the ages of 17-45. The organized being the National Guard.

[tet68]

The very idea that citizens might be barred from militia membership was itself an indication of tyranny.

Bump.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Then, United States vs. Miller held that a sawed-off shotgun was subject to registration because there was no evidence before the court that it had a military use.

NO, SCOTUS DID NOT HOLD THAT A SAWED-OFF SHOTGUN WAS SUBJECT TO REGISTRATION! And I get really sick of reading that misleading claim from PRO-RKBA sources! SCOTUS remanded this case to the lower court, which was to determine WHETHER that type of gun had ever had a military use. If the lower court had proceeded with the case, it would have found that sawed-off shotguns HAD been used in military action. The case was moot by the time it was remanded, since one of the two defendants had died and the other had accepted a plea bargain and paid a small fine.

[mr_hammer]

Ping

[TigersEye]

2nd: The founders meant what they wrote about arms

I'd bet my life on it! ; )

[JoeSixPack1]

Paging Mayor Bloomingidiot.....
Paging Mayor Nogin.....
Paging Senator Feinswizzle...
Paging Senator Boxbrains.....
Paging The Brady Bunch.....


Molon Labe

[Beckwith]

guaranteeing only that states can maintain a National Guard.

The anti-gun folks want you to believe that the founders were prescient. After all, the National Guard didn't come into existence until 100 years later.

One must remember the state of mind of the founders at the time the words were penned.

The founders knew that the People had a right, indeed a responsibility, to form groups (militia) to overthrow a cruel and callous government (Great Britain) because they wrote it during a war of rebellion.

In my opinion, the Second Amendment not only guarantees the right of the People to keep and bear arms, uninfringed, but also the right to organize as militia to defend themselves against the government. That's why the federal and state governments work so hard to neuter it.

[Bernard]

In the context of the 18th century, didn't citizens bring their own weapons to militia formations? Did militias have standing supplies of weapons and ammunition available when an activation happened?

[Caipirabob]

I've always enjoyed the arguement on just how the founders could have meant ALL of the bill of rights to reserve rights specifically and exclusively for the people with the exception of the 2nd Amendment.

Uh-uh, don't buy it and if anyone attempts to subvert the intentions of the founding fathers, it should be a high crime.

[Razz Barry]

John Adams on "the great anniversary Festival" On 3 July 1776, John Adams wrote home to his wife Abigail, excited that the Continental Congress had finally voted for independence the day before. He said:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.—I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.—Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

[the mo]

bump for later

[PsyOp]

The Second Amendment - Commentaries