To all Gun Control Advocates: The "Militia" is not what you think it is.

Free Republic | 04/24/2007 | Matt Brazil

[Ultra Sonic 007]

2nd Amendment bump.

[pissant]

Lets see. If it said:

“a free and truthful press, being required for a functioning state, the peoples right to speak and publish freely shall not be infringed”.

Even old lib dinosaurs like Laurence Tribe and Alan Dershowitz understand it is an individual right.

[webboy45]

The militia issue is a red herring. Whatever the reason might have been, it states that the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bare arms shall not be infringed.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Doesn’t help if they twist the “right of the people” to mean “the right of the people in the militia.”

[FoxInSocks]

Liberals are looking for an emanation of a penumbra.

[FoxInSocks]

Gorilla tactic:

[absalom01]

The syntax seems awkward, but it has always seemed to me that the militia clause is there to emphacize that the arms protected by the 2nd are militarily significant arms. Not hunting, not sporting purposes, or any of the modern falderal we've come to accept.

[ThomasThomas]

So if it helps some to understand we could call gun clubs militias
.

[alecqss]

Actually unarmed people can not possibly form a militia. That’s why 2nd amendment keeps unalienable right to bear arms by the individuals and appreciation for the militia in one sentence.

It is somewhat fun to imagine a thinking that envisions unarmed guys forming a ‘militia’... After forming such a ‘militia’ they obviously have to apply to those against whom it’s formed to give them arms. That’s what “gun controllers” understand by “well-regulated”.

[Nickh]

To Ultra Sonic 007,

DU is missing you very much, please go back there you wimp! Or maybe it is from Red China, Russia, Iran or Nazi Germany from whence you came, they are much more aligned with your views on guns.

[ctdonath2]

Even militarily insignificant arms can be used for national defense, being better than nothing.

[verum ago]

The militia issue is a red herring. Whatever the reason might have been, it states that the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bare arms shall not be infringed.

I am constantly amazed that opponents of gun control almost never bring that up in the public arena.

[Revelation 911]

own all the guns you want - just dont stop paying your property taxes

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

It's really not too complicated. A militia is a citizen military force (the Lexington Minuteman) in contrast to a standing professional army (King George's lobster-backs). Well regulated means it is not to be an aimless mob much like the soon to happen French Revolution. The only way this can be guaranteed is by having the power distributed among the people with state of the art assault rifles. Imagine the American militia fighting the British professionals with greatly inferior arms. There would be no America. This means no infringement.

You really can't trust anybody else. You can't trust Bush's New World Order anymore than you can the Kennedy's Camelot.

[B4Ranch]

2nd Amendment bump.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Did you even read my whole thread?

[oyez]

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

That means that arms can be available in order to form a militia should it be needed. The right to bear arms insures that ability. It has nothing to do with sports. It has to do with domestic security. I've heard the argument that the idea was fine with muskets. But today the enemy would be armed with modern weapons and the people would have muzzle loaders. That wouldn't be a well regulated militia.

[hophead]

In Maryland, under its Constitution, there are 2 militias. The “organized” and the “unorganized” militias. The “organized” are under control of the state government in times of need only. No “standing” militia. The “unorganized” militia is EVERYONE ELSE.
This ruling came from a longtime gun grabber MD.AG Joe Curran.