“The Second Amendment provided no limitations on the ownership of arms, and they specifically wrote ‘arms’, which meant cannons then, and it would mean cannons today too. Full autos, grenade launchers, full auto shotguns, suppressors, grenades, everything under the sun.”
The possesion of a full auto rifle would be consistent with my view that an M16 type weapon was original intent. Now I don’t think that being part of the “militia” was or is a requirement to possess a firearm. However, the clause “a well regulated militia being necessary to a free state...” would suggest to me that WITH that right to keep and bear arms comes a duty to the larger community. Also, I believe “well regulated” means in our venacular...”a group of good marksmen.” Thus, I do not think that canon and grenades fall under 2nd ammendment protection (IMO and I’m not adamant that my opinion is correct). An individual has no need for anything beyond what would be consistent with him/her being able to help maintain a “well regulated militia”. Don’t misunderstand, I DO MOST DEFINITELY THINK the 2nd Ammendment is an individual right not to be infringed like it has in Chicago and California. However, I do not think it is reasonable to think the drafters of the Bill of Rights had any intention for an individual to have arms enough to form his/her own private army or beyond what an ordinary soldier would carry. Citizens were to suborndinate themselves to their community as potential parts of the militia. Thus, the 2nd ammendment protects individual rights but it also protects the larger community. It is both an individual and collective right. Over armed individuals is not necessariy in the communities interest. The rub is, and this is where the SCOTUS comes in, is what is over armed? I draw the line at allowing possession of firearms consistent with individual military service (IOW let citizens possess “assault weapons” is acceptable). However, grenades, howitzers, a tank, thermonuclear weapons, those cross the line. :-)
It being considered a collective right is why we’re at our current position today.
If it was just “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” there never, ever would have been a second thought as to its meaning, and I don’t think the National Guard would have been created, because it seems to me the National Guard was founded to become that “well-regulated militia.”
Everything government does is designed, in time, to rot away the liberties our Founding Fathers until at some crisis point, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are suspended by the federal government, and everybody that keeps saying they’re ‘mad as hell’ are left wandering around, scratching their heads and asking “what just happened?,” when the country should have acted after the National Firearms Act was passed.
For no reason should government at any level have tried to regulate and/or restrict our inalienable, God-given rights.
Unfortunately I’m not old enough to have purchased Solothurns through a magazine, but I’ll be damned if America falls through an act of government or a foreign aggressor.