[robertpaulsen]

"the scope of the second amendment was not limited to any particular government."

According to the Preamble to the Bill of Rights, the scope of all amendments was limited to the federal government. And, that's how it was interpreted and enforced for almost 150 years.

[sig226]

The men who wrote it had recently fought a war to defeat the most powerful nation in the world in order to secure the liberties of a free state. It is a gross understatement to say that a federal freedom to bear arms would be useless if the states could nullify it. It makes no sense to assume that the founders believed that the federal government might become tyrannical, but such no such thing would ever happen in a state.

Your statement falls back on Barron v. Baltimore, which in 1833 decided that the bill of rights applies only to the federal government. This decision was so wrong it is difficult to understand how it was made. Article VI of the constitution is clear: "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

The fact that the Supreme Court ignored this is more indicative of the politics of the day and a convenient situation for all in power - you do your thing and we'll do ours. The Supreme Court has screwed up plenty of decisions, we can go from Roe v. Wade through Dred Scott and all the way back to Marbury v. Madison for examples of the court inventing things that defy the constitution.