[William Tell]

robertpaulsen said: "If there's some other pre-existing right you had in mind, I'd like to hear it -- because it means that right has been violated now for over 200 years, wouldn't you agree?"

Most of the states which protect an individual right to keep and bear arms do so with the same reference to a pre-existing right.

In Pennsylvainia, passed in 1790:"The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of themselves and the State shall not be questioned. "

It should be obvious that the grammar suggests that this pre-existing right included bearing arms in defence of the individual. And the wording makes clear that the right additionally includes the right to defend the state. So how does the pre-existing "right of the people" in the Second Amendment not include what the people in Pennsylvania recognized?

And further, the grossest violations of the Second Amendment began with the NFA 1934. Prior to that, most gun control was clearly aimed at disarming minorities. The Dred Scott decision makes clear that a free person could carry weapons wherever they went. The described right to keep and bear arms was not limited, despite the fact that freedom of speech was at that time.

[robertpaulsen]

Since you refuse to tell me, let me guess. This "pre-existing right" you keep referencing -- are you referring to an individual right to self defense with a weapon? And that this pre-existing right to self defense with a weapon is protected by the second amendment?

And as proof, you offer up the 1790 State of Pennsylvania Constitution which has similar wording? Did I get that right?