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| Authored by: myNym on Thursday, December 20 2012 @ 07:09 AM EST |
"Further, it clearly states that the purpose of bearing arms
is for creating a militia. [...]"
IF the 2nd amendment said:
Dead deer, being necessary for the making of venison stew,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be
infringed.
Would you then argue that only the bearing of hunting arms
are protected?
The first clause merely provides the motivation. The second
clause defines the right being protected. You could put
anything you want in place of the first clause, and it does
not change one word in the second clause.
Further, "militia" doesn't mean military. It means an armed
civilian populace. The current legal definition in the US
is defined in 10 USC § 311:
"(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-
bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as
provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age
who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to
become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens
of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National
Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members
of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or
the Naval Militia."
[See http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/311]
You seem to be wanting to focus on the (b)(1) definition,
whereas the common usage of the word is more in line with
(b)(2).
If you want to fixate on the first clause, perhaps you may
want to fixate on it accurately. The most important part of
the first clause is "being necessary to the security of a
free state".
So let's break it down further. What is a "well-regulated
militia"? What does well-regulated mean? Notice that it
isn't two words, it is a single hyphenated word. It isn't
used much these days, but in the vernacular of the time, it
was a reference to accuracy. Think of the regulator on your
gas bottle for example. It refers to the ability to
maintain an accurate and even pressure.
So, an armed populace, able to maintain steady and even
pressure, being necessary to the security of a free state..
the Right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed.
-myNym
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