[hosepipe]

[ It is a falsehood that the 2d amendment was designed to make revolution legal. That was the last thing on the Founders minds. They believed there was no reason for revolution from a representative government. ]

WRONG... You are probably wrong about other things as well..
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"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln

"Every generation needs a new revolution."- Thomas Jefferson..

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"-- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188

The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."-- Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story of the John Marshall Court

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." -- George Washington, in a speech of January 7, 1790

Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defence? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defence be the *real* object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?-- Patrick Henry, speech of June 9 1788

You know why there's a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one.-- Rush Limbaugh, in a moment of unaccustomed profundity 17 Aug 1993

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.-- John F. Kennedy

[justshutupandtakeit]

Abe was not a Founder. Nor was Jefferson he was in Paris during the CC fortunately besides he was more rhetoric than anything else.

Hamilton was for a strong central government and had no sympathy for an armed rabble.

Pulling out a bunch of canned quotes does nothing to change the reality of the thought of the Founders.

By creating a representative republic the means to change and control the government was placed in the hands of the people. As long as there is such a republic armed revolt is both unnecessary and illegal.

Should that government change into something else all bets are off. But it is also rather foolish to believe that an untrained undisciplined force would stand much of a chance against a real army. Those who fought the Revolution found that out to their dismay. Only because Washington trained a real army to avoid reliance upon the militias was he able to defeat the British. Most of the time the militias were of little value.

But don't let reality interfere with romantic braggadocio.