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Old 03-08-2015, 04:36 PM
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Boreas Boreas is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Sonoma County, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpholland View Post
Been a while.

Could be something to the fact that just because the fed took over the first half doesn't mean that the second half should be negated.
It's really easy to make the case that the second clause of the 2nd Amendment is dependent on the first. In other words, the entire reason for the Amendment is to provide for the creation and arming of state militias, to be always armed and, therefore, always at the ready. At the time these were a substitute for the much hated alternative of a standing army.

Then there are the two key words, one per clause, of "regulated" and "infringed". The two words are thought, by he 2nd Amendment's most radical defenders, to be mutually exclusive, i.e. no regulation is possible without infringing on the right to bear arms. This is, of course, nonsense but it is vehemently asserted by many and is the reason why the first clause is regularly ignored.

Another reason why the first clause is "secret" is that it explains that the purpose of the 2nd Amendment was to provide for the national defense against both foreign invasion and home grown insurrection. In fact, the first time that the militia was called up was to put down tax revolts. These would be Shays Rebellion, where the Massachusetts Militia was under the command of the state, and the Whiskey Rebellion, where several state militias were federslized and led by Washington himself.. The next time was in the War of 1812.

This historical use of the militia flies in the face of "patriots" and sovereign citizens. They insist that the Amendment's purpose is to provide them with the means to foment revolution and "resist government tyranny", just as the Shaysites and Whiskey Rebels tried to do. This was never the Founders' intent.

John
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Last edited by Boreas; 03-08-2015 at 04:39 PM.
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