To: Rifleman
Never said anything about technology trumping anything merely pointed to the idiocy of making this essentially irrelevent issue the focal point of an election.
Ships were often privately armed and the Constitution referenced them but prohibited States from having them except in time of war. However, they were in government service and sailed in international waters so are irrelevent to the 2d amendment which refers to "arms" or weapons which can be carried not cannons, not bombs, not biological warfare agents but muskets, rifles, pistols, swords, knives, maces, spears, cutlasses etc.
Militas now are limited to "well-regulated" militias which are trained and officered by officers appointed by the states. Militias in those days were almost exclusively organized by towns, townships, counties or states though a few very rich men may have had their own.
The Founders were speaking of ARMS not all weapons. If you can't carry it its ownership is not protected.
201 posted on
11/14/2003 6:39:47 AM PST by
justshutupandtakeit
(America's Enemies foreign and domestic agree: Bush must be destroyed.)
To: justshutupandtakeit
"Militas now are limited to "well-regulated" militias which "
If you go back and look at the phrase "well regulated", you will see that in the late 1700's, clocks, cannon, rifles, and archers were referred to as "well regulated". It meant accurate, not as complying with lots of regulations.
It meant that the militias were trained in marksmanship.
260 posted on
11/14/2003 9:38:41 AM PST by
DBrow
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