1. the CSM is not “christian”
2. the media mob continues their NYC rant.
3. they assume the rest of the world is just like the usa.
Another display of leftists pretending to know what the Founders “really meant”.
Who's this "we" he keeps talking about?
A snot-nosed kid at Columbia studying urban politics doesn't even register on my ignore meter.
About muskets, the author wrote: “When people did die from these weapons, it was often because of lead poisoning...”
I couldn’t get through the rest of the article after that.
Nobody else saw that?
Is that a straw man argument or a red herring? Or both? I can't always keep the two types of false logic tactics separate. In any case it's the logic of a child who can't debate on an adult level.
Madison meant Second Amendment to allow guns at least normal on the battlefield: today, that’s full auto M16s.
The Constitution was not written on a word processer or a computer!
I’ll give up guns when “Journalists” do their reporting with quill pens!
God forbid letting Bob Costas rant his lament at half time.
The First Amendment was never intended to allow 24-hour corp/gov infotainaganda to be beamed directly into people’s pockets, either.
The people at Christian Science Monitor must be stupid.
Most of us already know why the Founders insisted on the 2nd. Amendment.
To insure we were citizens, not slaves of the Government.
To protect ourselves and our families.
To join with our military in any incursion of this country.
Aaron, The principle should have had the right to defend the school. That bastard blasted his way in, stupid libs in charge had NO defense. You are the problem. Try blasting your ass into my home or work. You will be dropped in a New York second.
The nutjob could have killed just as many kids or more tearing thru the palyground with a car during recess or lunch time.........That is if kids still get to go outside during recess or lunch.
Which is why the US military won so quickly and easily in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, right?
The 2nd Amendment *affirms* an individual right to keep and bear Arms. The 2nd Amendment *affirms* each state having the right to keep and bear Arms.
The federal interest - its concern in the shape of the 2nd Amendment - is in regard to its expectation and need of the militia of each state, being well-regulated, so that they would be of better military use.
The expression, well regulated to Arms, means indivdiual discipline, unit discipline, respecting the lawful chain of command, having the proper and militarily-useful weapons, and several more considerations, all for the purpose of satisfying the state’s need and the federal government’s need *when called to duty.*
Currently, a lot of noise is made about this or that “militia,” when in fact, there is only one militia per state in the USA -— there *no other militia.* What the media refer to as “the militia” are *not* the militia, but rather, simply gun clubs.
The militia in each state, may be called up within the community of their base, within a county of which that community is but one, or by the officials of the state who have the authority to call up the militia, according to state laws.
All able-bodied citizens who are residents, can be called up, and in addition, are subject to military regulations whether or not called up.
Any such members of the militia in a state, may drill, prepare and train, but they have no authority to exercise maritial power without approval by a duly-elected representative body -— meaning, that the community council, or a county board of governors, or the state legislature have to authorize any use of force.
The matter of how an individual or a group of individuals would use any kind of weapon, firearm or not, for personal reasons such as hunting or personal defense, falls under the common law of the aforementioned jurisdictions. Within the common law, the individual’s 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear Arms is respected, but un-approved use of a weapon *can* be grounds for a jurisdiction to then limit that individual to specified keeping, bearing, and use of Arms.
These distinctions were issues and matters of militia law extant, long before the founding of the USA, and the history of militia laws going way back in time, and as recording in several books on the topic, which books were available for reference during the times in which the Founding Fathers were educated, are the foundation for militia law across the entire USA, its possessions and territories.
The type of firearms *do matter,* in the context of the mutual assistance expectations by the federal government and the states, where again, there is a need of uniformity and preparation, so that a call to duty results in a muster of not only able-bodied men, but ready-to-act and exercise martial power ... instead of having to spend a lot of time in *then* getting every body well trained to Arms.
For *that purpose,* the 2nd Amendment does indeed include an expectation that the able-bodied members of the militia *will keep and bear Arms.* The capital “A” in “Arms” *includes military weapons.*
Some may cheer at that, but there is an expectation that the keeping and bearing of Arms *will included duty,* being, the satisfying of both individual and unit discipline.
That means, that if you wish to keep and bear Arms that the state and federal government agree on, are military weapons, then *you* are required to fulfill your duties, including your part in the system of military training and discipline ... including, that you will not be careless about any such weapons in your charge.
The 2nd Amendment is not, therefore, some kind of a license for anybody to do whatever they please, and especially not with any weapons that, again, the state and federal government agree upon, as being classified, as a military weapon.
You *can* be required to store your military grade weapons in the community or county or state armory, leaving you with a personal sidearm and hunting rifle and shotgun.
The states each have the power to decide what you can keep with you and what must be stored in an armory. The states have *always* had this power.
I guess the 4th amendment no longer applies since we have email now and phones instead of paper and pens.
The founding fathers knew the country might not survive the type if stupidity and ignorance liberals demonstrate with statements like this.
George Mason might be amused at the idea that Mdison was the sole Author of the BoR and what it’s intent was.
The Second easily covers all armaments from a simple rock to a fully appointed battleship. Not to mention anything we might develop going forward.