re text of white house announcement and q as on clipper chip encryption rlward afterlife ncsc mil robert ward writes in article bontchev fbihh bontchev fbihh informatik uni hamburg de writes and since the us constitutions guarantees the right to every american to bear arms why is not every american entitled as a matter of have you read the applicable part of the constitution and interpreted it in context if not please do so before posting this misinterpretation again it refers to the right of the people to organize a militia not for individuals to carry handguns grenades and assault rifles the supreme court seems to disagree with you they have stated that the people is a term of art refering to an individual right and have explicitly mentioned the second amendment as an example i quote the people seems to have been a term of art employed in select parts of the constitution the preamble declares that the constitution is ordained and established by the people of the the u s the second amendment protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms supreme court of the u s u s v uerdugo uriquidez furthermore in the miller decision they only permitted prosecution for possession of a sawed off shotgun because the defense had not presented testimony and they therefore accepted the argument of the government that such weapons have no military value they held that the amendment protected the individual right to possess military weapons unfortunately no second amendment case has successfully gotten to the court in fifty years however that does not change the interpretation furthermore it appears that others disagree with you as well vis the conclusion is thus inescapable that the history concept and wording of the second amendment to the constitution of the united states as well as its interpretation by every major commentator and court in the first half century after its ratifi cation indicates that what is protected is an individual right of a private citizen to own and carry firearms in a peaceful manner report of the subcommittee on the constitution of the committee on the judiciary united states senate th congress second session february you might rightfully ask well then what does that first bit about militias mean well militia in historical context basically means the whole of the adult males of the country indeed the u s code still defines militia as all armed men over the age of the militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense and these men were expected to appear bearing arms supplied by themselves and of the kind in common use at the time supreme court of the united states u s v miller the reason for the phrase being there was to explain the rationale behind the amendment which was this by depending on the people to bear arms in defense of the country no centralization of military power could ever occur which would permit tyranny in short the government would remain perpetually in fear of the people rather than the other way around no free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms the strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government thomas jefferson proposal virginia constitution june thomas jefferson papers c j boyd ed and what country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance let them take arms the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants thomas jefferson letter to william s smith in jefferson on democracy s padover ed before a standing army can rule the people must be disarmed as they are in almost every kingdom of europe the supreme power in america cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword because the whole body of the people are armed and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be on any pretense raised in the united states noah webster an examination into the leading principles of the federal constitution in pamphlets on the constitution of the united states p ford you may disagree with the second amendment and wish that it be repealed but please do not pretend that it isn t there and that it doesn t mean what it says you might argue that conditions have changed and that it should no longer be present but you can t imagine it away i could fill a book with detailed argumentation many have already however none of this has anything to do with cryptography lets get it out of here if you insist on discussing this please do it in talk politics guns where people will gladly discuss this matter with you perry metzger pmetzger shearson com laissez faire laissez passer le monde va de lui meme
