[Basil Duke]

Although there is much to recommend this piece, the author is wrong about the Miller case. In this ruling, the court held that Miller was precluded from owning a sawed off shotgun because sawed off shotguns were not weapons ordinarily found in U.S. Army units. In other words, in the court's opinion, regular citizens were entitled to possess those guns that were standard military issue - a pretty solid blow in support of the Second Amendment.

[GalvestonBeachcomber]

The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms

(The way the liberals read it)

[45Auto]

May 2, 1967, Sacramento, CA:

A group of thirty young black men and women, dressed in black leather jackets, berets, and dark glasses, crosses the lawn to the steps of the state capitol. Many of them are armed with shotguns, though they are careful to keep the weapons pointed towards the sky. As they approach the entrance to the capitol building, Governor Ronald Reagan, speaking to a cluster of schoolchildren nearby, catches sight of their advance, turns on his heel, and runs.

Still marching in tight formation, the group reaches the steps, faces the crowd, and listens attentively as their leader, Bobby Seale, [1] reads Executive Mandate Number One of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense to the startled audience. The mandate, addressed to “the American people in general and the black people in particular,” details the “terror, brutality, murder, and repression of black people” practiced by “the racist power structure of America,” and concludes that “the time has come for black people to arm themselves against this terror before it is too late.” [2]

Cameras flash as Seale finishes reading and the defiant group proceeds into the building. One wrong turn, and the delegation stumbles onto the Assembly floor, currently in debate over the Mulford Act, aimed to prohibit citizens from carrying loaded firearms on their persons or in their vehicles.

Chaos ensues: legislators dive under desks, screaming, “Don’t shoot!” and security guards hurriedly surround the party, grabbing at weapons and herding everyone into the hallway. All the while cameramen and reporters run back and forth, grinning in anticipation of tomorrow’s headlines.

“Who are you?” one manages to shout before the assembly is led into an elevator. Sixteen-year-old “little” Bobby Hutton is the first to reply, and his words remain an echo in the hallway just before the doors slide shut with a soft hiss:

“We’re the Black Panthers. We’re black people with guns. What about it?”[3]

[45Auto]

Members of the Black Panther Party in the Capitol, Sacramento, CA, May 1967

[Ancesthntr]

A rare find, a liberal that can read and reason!

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

Time to lift both the importation and semi-auto bans!

[Bedford Forrest]

"In it, the Supreme Court held that because of the militia language, the "obvious purpose" of the Second Amendment was to guarantee a collective and not an individual right."

The Supreme Court did no such thing in Miller. To the contrary, it went off on its own finding that a sawed off shotgun did not constitute a "militia" weapon, and cited in passing many state statutes in support of the truism that the "militia" meant all able bodies males. Miller is shaky law anyway because the defendant's side was never argued before the Court.

[Knuckrider]

Ancesthntr, has it exactly right. I never have understood how the "anti's" claim Miller as a victory.

Molon labe

[wcbtinman]

This guy needs to go back and re-read the Miller decision.

Also, there is only ONE comma in the 2nd. It comes after the word 'state'.

[aeronca]

bump

[Psycho_Bunny]

"The project of disciplining all the militia of the United States is as
futile as it would be injurious, if it were capable of being carried
into execution. A tolerable expertness in military movements is a
business that requires time and practice. It is not a day, or even a
week, that will suffice for the attainment of it. To oblige the great
body of the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be
under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and
evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of
perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated
militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a serious public
inconvenience and loss. It would form an annual deduction from the
productive labor of the country, to an amount which, calculating upon
the present numbers of the people, would not fall far short of the whole
expense of the civil establishments of all the States. To attempt a
thing which would abridge the mass of labor and industry to so
considerable an extent, would be unwise: and the experiment, if made,
could not succeed, because it would not long be endured. Little more can
reasonably be aimed at, with respect to the people at large, than to
have them properly armed and equipped"

-Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 29

This pretty much says all there is to say about the intent of the Second.

[FormerLurker]

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms - REPORT of the SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-SEVENTH CONGRESS

The Constitution For The United States, Its Sources and Its Applications - Amendment Article II

THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS