re some more about gun control in article c bu m k ulowell ulowell edu jrutledg cs ulowell edu john lawrence rutledge wrote in article q tpinnpcn gap caltech edu arc cco caltech edu aaron ray clements writes the second amendment is a guarantee of the right to bear arms clearly and unequivocally without infringement unfortunately the second amendment is not as clear as you state if last part of it is taken along it follows what you have said the problem i have is with the first part of the single sentence which makes up the amendment the second amendment is a well regulated militia being necessary to the security militia of a free state the right of the people to keep and bear state arms shall not be infringed arms you didn t even get the capitalization correct try reading usca on the constitution or get any other correct version of the constitution this mention of a well regulated militia is what confuses me according to the federalist paper s a well regulated militia has a well defined structure and follows nationally uniform regulations perhaps you should actually read the federalist papers james madison federalist paper besides the advantage of being armed which the americans possess over the people of almost every other nation the existence of subordinate governments to which the people are attached and by which the militia officers are appointed forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of europe which are carried as far as the public resources will bear the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms james madison i annals of congress june the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed a well regulated militia composed of the body of the people trained to arms is the best and most natural defense of a free country alexander hamilton federalist paper on the organization of the militia little more can reasonably be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped and in order to see that this be not neglected it will be necessary to assemble them once or twice in the course of a year alexander hamilton federalist paper speaking of standing armies if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens but surely hamilton and madison didn t mean the people when they said people right that s why the amendment refers to the right of the militia your average year old male does not fall into the definition you re right the militia consists of all able bodied males and probably females under current interpretation therefore most members of the militia the one the every gun advocate refers to are not members of a well organized militia and therefore are not directly the amendment does nor refer to well organized it says well regulated i have some targets you may examine if you wish to check how well regulated i am mentioned in the amendment if this amendment wanted to allow every member of the militia to keep and bear arms why did it specificly mention a well organized militia in the same sentence as the right to keep and bear arms correct that s why the right is reserved to the people and that was to insure the people could form a well regulated militia not a well organized militia it could be argued that the first part of the sentence is separate from the last part if so why was it include in the same atomic unit of written what do atomic units have to do with this argument any moron can set h bar c instead of a separate sentence oh i see what your question is why don t you read the federalist papers james madison federalist paper regarding the general welfare clause nothing is more natural nor common than first to use a general phrase and then to explain and qualify it by a recital of particulars but what does madison know about the grammatical style of the nd he only wrote it the amendment also implies that the right to arms has to due with the security of a free state the federalist paper s mention of a well regulated militia gives many examples of how this militia protects the security of a free state all these examples are actions of a very organized force not some john q public with a gun that s obviously because you ve never actually read the federalist papers all that the second amendment clearly states to me is that the people s right to form well regulated militias shall not be infringed that is people have the right to join a well organized militia this well organized militia will of course provide training in how to use arms and in basic military tactics these training members of the militia can keep and bear the arms can t read huh show me where the document says well organized militia lastly reading through the federalist paper s on well organized militia it is very clear that many of the reasons for these militias one reason stated is the protection from a standing army these days the standing army could easily defeat a group consisting of every year old male and female not in the armied forces that is exactly why every person should be allowed to own any weapon currently in use in the armed forces another reason stated for well organized militias is to reduced the need for a standing army well the us armied forces have been a standing army for more than half the history of the us but the major reason is to protect against that very same army it seems to me the whole reason for the second amendment to give the people protection from the us government by guaranteeing that the people can over through the government if necessary is a little bit of an anachronism is this day and age maybe its time to re think how this should be done and amend the constitution appropriately abraham lincoln first inaugural address march this country with its institutions belongs to the people who inhabit it whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it rep elbridge gerry of massachusetts spoken during floor debate over the second amendment i annals of congress at august what sir is the use of a militia it is to prevent the establishment of a standing army the bane of liberty whenever governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people they always attempt to destroy the militia in order to raise an army upon their ruins so now we know which category mr rutledge is in he means to destroy our liberties and rights charles scripter cescript phy mtu edu dept of physics michigan tech houghton mi when all government in little as in great things shall be drawn to washington as the centre of all power it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated thomas jefferson
