The Second Amendment Means What It Says

...and what the Second Amendment clearly says, is:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Folks... this isn't a dissertation... I'm just gonna shoot (pardon the pun!) off a few facts here and if anyone wants to dispute them they can feel free to provide their opinion and actual facts - backed by citations we can all follow - laying out their case. I'll respond. 

So... first... by "Militia" the Founders didn't mean the state militias and modern state national guards. No.They were speaking of individuals. 

How'bout "well-regulated?" Doesn't that speak of "organized by government authority?" No. "Well regulated" simply meant equipped and able to join with other citizens in order to form an armed and ready force to defend the Rule of Law as well as life and property. (Think about an old Western movie where the Sheriff or Marshall  asks for volunteers to form a posse; the members were expected to furnish their own weapons and were assumed to be "well-regulated" in the sense of being able to fulfill their duties.)

How'bout the types of weapons?

Well, folks... think about this: Were not civilian owned and crewed ships not often armed with cannon at the time of the Founding?

Indeed... ponder this: Go to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution. Note how Congress is given sole authority to grant Letters of  Marque and Reprisal. Obviously, folks, Congress didn't grant such Letters of Marque and Reprisal to unarmed privately owned ships but to armed ships.

I point this out not to start a debate concerning whether a private citizen should be able to own and operate his or her own SSBN, but instead to simply point out that the logic of the "pro-gun" position is undeniably more contextually defensible than are false claims that our Second Amendment was about ensuring Americans the right to own a musket, a pistol, or even a modern day single-shot hunting rifle.

The Second Amendment always has been a remains today a Right (note... a Right... not a privilege) for self-defense and ultimately for defense of our Constitutional liberties and unalienable Rights in the face of a government which oversteps its bounds.

An armed citizenry... a "well regulated militia"... was not looked upon by our Founders as simply as asset to our government to be called up and militarized as necessary, but rather an as a backstop guarantor that should government ever grow so big and powerful as to pose a threat to  our Constitutional liberties and unalienable Rights that "We the People" would possess the wherewithal to protect these Constitutional liberties and unalienable Rights.

As to registration.... even supposing we trust this present government - our various individual state governments as well as the federal government as of today - to not misuse registration... do we trust future governments... various state governments and the federal government of say next year... five years down the road... ten years down the road... and so on and so forth to no misuse gun registration in order to attempt to target gun owners... to violate gun owners' Second Amendment Rights by confiscating their guns?

I'm sure you all recall being taught that driving a motor vehicle is a privilege, not a Right.

Well... folks... the Second Amendment is a Right... not a privilege.

As to sideways "attacks" on gun ownership such as ammunition "regulation" and the size of clips and even automatic vs. semi-automatic (which has been federal law since 1934), again, where the purpose is to forbid one the full contextual usage of the Second Amendment Right... well... it seems to me that if a direct attack on a Constitutional Right is wrong than so is an indirect attack on a Constitutional Right.

Anyway, folks... questions?

Comments?

Again, folks... this isn't my doctoral thesis... it's not a legal "friend of the Court" brief... it's not even a formal op-ed meant to "prove my case."

Nope. Just sharing my thoughts. Just throwing some facts and analysis out there for you folks to ponder.