Posted on 03/16/2008 2:51:10 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
I hate the NRA site; it has way too much bling & not enough information Navigation on the website is user-hostile. NRA clubs are not tightly linked with the NRA. it is up to the clubs to supply the maps. I have used Peltor 6s for over 10 years; days at a time, I love them. They don't clip range commands for me, I give the commands. ;-)Sorry; finger check ==> ones
If the right to belong to a militia isn't a fundamental right, why would those issues come into play?
I have no idea. Where are you going with this? What's your point?
I'm trying to figure out, under your interpretation, exactly who is guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms. It would seem that under your interpretation, given that Congress seems to be able to define militia membership as it sees fit (it exercised such power even during the time of the framers), Congress could thus also have the power to decide whom it wants and does not want to be armed.
You seem above to dispute Congress' authority to define militia membership arbitrarily. I'm curious as to what constraints you think apply. Equal Protection is a 14th Amendment construct, mainly applicable to the states. Due Process wouldn't apply, since membership in a militia doesn't seem to qualify as "life, liberty, or property". Why would those concepts forbid Congress from defining militia membership to only include its "preferred" people, and yet they don't seem to forbid sheriffs from restricting concealed-carry licenses to their "preferred" people?
Yep, that is what I had in mind. I can pick up and fire a loaded gun in just a couple of seconds. If the gun is unloaded it takes much longer, because I have to check the action and even then my brain just makes me take extra seconds to verify that I did, in fact, just check the gun.
I was in a gun shop once and the dealer cleared a revolver, closed the action and handed it to me. Since the action was closed, I automatically opened it and checked it. Then I closed the action.
But I had done this so automatically that, when I was about to dry "fire" the gun, I suddenly realized that I didn't remember seeing that the gun was empty. I knew I checked it. But I just couldn't consciously remember seeing that it was empty.
It only takes one mistake to create a life time of regret.
You cannot take Bob's guns and let Joe have his without equal protection and due process issues.
"I'm trying to figure out, under your interpretation, exactly who is guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms."
Everyone has the right. We're discussing the second amendment and who it protects.
"It would seem that under your interpretation, given that Congress seems to be able to define militia membership as it sees fit"
Yep. That's how we got the National Guard.
"You seem above to dispute Congress' authority to define militia membership arbitrarily"
Yes I do.
"I'm curious as to what constraints you think apply."
Constitutional constraints.
"Equal Protection is a 14th Amendment construct, mainly applicable to the states. Due Process wouldn't apply, since membership in a militia doesn't seem to qualify as "life, liberty, or property'
If a law arbitrarily excluded an individual, it would fail to comply with 5th amendment procedural due process and an implicit guarantee that each person receive equal protection of the laws.
"and yet they don't seem to forbid sheriffs from restricting concealed-carry licenses to their "preferred" people?"
Are you saying this is being done above-board and legally?
Are you saying this is being done above-board and legally?
Yes, that's precisely what I'm saying.
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