Exactly, even if the BOR was repealed, the rights would still exist. Repealing the 2nd Amendment would NOT remove the RKBA, it would only give the government the power to infringe upon that right, as if it doesn’t already.
>> “A minor point, but worth arguing, is that the Constitution does not GIVE rights, it ACKNOWLEDGES them.”
>
>This is not a minor point it is the only point.
Ah, you misunderstand; I was talking from a critique-the-article point of view. In that sense, it is a minor point.
However, implementationally, there s a BIG difference; much like the difference between “pray for” and “pray to,” the little change impacts the whole of the idea.
>The point you raised is critical, not minor.
Agreed, see above.
>Our rights supersede any form of government. The power rests not with the State, but the individual.
I’ve written about that, from the “state official’s” point-of-view, in a Screwtape Letters style over here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2513906/posts
> Articles that inadvertantly suggest otherwise, even well intentioned ones, only reinforce the misnomer that the government is arbitor of our rights, or that rights are constructs of the state instead of an integral, inherent, inalienable component of our humanity.
Quite Agreed.
>Therein lies the essential difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives recognize this truth; liberals presume otherwise.
There is something we CAN do about it though; apply reasoning to the laws, especially Constitutional laws.
Here’s a letter I recently sent my Representative in the State Legislature which, I hope, illustrates what I’m trying to say:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2517136/posts?page=12#12
And finally, I share with you all some humor:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2518539/posts
...ok? That seems about it.
DISCLAIMER/WARNING: I’ve been accused of having a weird sense of humor at times.
No, it wouldn't. The federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers, and none of the enumerated powers is to disarm the populace. The entire BOR is a belt-and-suspenders arrangement, to emphasize the limit of the grant of power to the federal government, in particular aspects.
Separately, I get a laugh out of "only" the militia. The militia is ALL people capable of bearing arms. When the populace is armed, and knows how to use the arms, then the populace comprises a free state.