For Those Saying 2nd Amendment Only Applies to a Militia
I would like to explain something about the 2nd amendment and the argument that it only applies to the militia. This argument is moot and for a reason almost no one ever explains.
Simply put it doesn't matter what the founders used to justify the right, only what right was recognized and protected under legal language of the constitution which is a binding legal contract between the State and the people.
Bluntly if the second amendment said,
"To protect the nation from the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".
It would not lessen the protection of the right legally protected by the amendment which again is a binding legal document between the State and the people. There are two parts, the why and the what, there is no how, or limitation placed upon the right.
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Is the legally binding component in the document.
There is no other place where anyone questions who "the people" are is there? Zero. The phrase is used 10 times in the constitution including all amendments. In nine other usages the meaning of the phrase has never been legally challenged successfully and is accepted to mean simply, (all of the people).
Yes at one time that did not include slaves etc and that was wrong, that was also corrected by the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, and those amendments did not, nor did any other amendment ever change what the term "the people" meant in the document. It is not legal for the same phrase to mean different things in the same legal contract.
Next the phrase "shall not" in legal language is absolute and binding in any and all legal contracts, and has never been questioned as to its meaning. This is a common legal term and it means exactly what it sounds like. This thing what ever it is will never be done unless the contract is amended by agreed upon means.
So one more time, if the 2nd Amendment said,
"Because there may some day be a rabbit that cannot even be killed with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
The legal protections of the 2nd would be no different. Again one is justification, the other is a binding contract with THE PEOPLE. There is no other option and SCOTUS has ruled as such.
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I have tried to explain how this works many times recently. You've done a good job of breaking down the "what" and the "how". Using examples like the flying spaghetti monster and the rabbit help to clarify what the important phrase in the second amendment is.
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While guns are great for hunting and protecting our homes from intruders the intention of the 2nd amendment was to keep the government in check. To all these people who say "assault rifles" should be outlawed and want people to only have single shot muskets or something like that lol, if the government actually became tyranical, having a 6 round revolver or a bolt action rifle is akin to protestors in Egypt and wherever else trying to fight the government with stones. The government has so much technology and weapons that only a large number of citizens with AR's and the like would have any chance at keeping a tyranical government at bay.
It's also useful to know what "well regulated" and "militia" meant in the context of the time this was written. The "militia" was every able bodied male above a certain age. "Well regulated" meant properly functioning.
There is no "debate" about why the 2nd Amendment was written. It was written largely as a response to the attempt by the British to seize the weapons of the colonists leading up to the Revolution. There are the facts and there are ignorant people or those pretending to be for their own political purposes.
For me right of Gun is = right on freedom. It is verry importent.
PLUS, (and this is the biggest nail in the coffin for the anti-gunners)
WE The PEOPLE are ALL "The Militia". PERIOD.
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It is nice that that is written in the constitution of the US. But It's not written in the constitution of many many other countries.
That doesn't mean that in those countries you don't have a right to bear arms.
No human in the world needs permission, (from another human), or some scribbles on paper by some politician in the past,that then declared having a gun is legal or written down as an unalienable right, to bear arms.
Or to make it shorter. No one can say that I may not have a weapon to defend myself.
Here's an excellent graph to accompany this writing.
Yes. Can you post a larger version of that? I would like to blow that up and see it all and share it!
It's not rocket science, which is why the left will try every tactic possible. (including using firearms, strangely enough), to move the argument away from the constitution, and replace it with arguments of, 'in today's society', 'musket/ AR15's', blah blah...