Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
You forgot the first part. Here's the whole sentence:
(from the actual Constitution)
The point of the amendment was to prevent the need of the the country to have a professional standing army. Members of the militia, who were just individual citizens, had to use their own personal weapons. The 2nd amendment gave them the right to possess and carry their own weapons to use when they were called on to serve, so that the government didn't have to fund an arsenal. That's why 2a was written.
It was never intended to be used outside "militia business." It turned into that later on, but that isn't why the amendment was written.
At the time, in the "wild wild west" most towns outlawed possession of guns if you weren't a deputy or member of the Sheriff's office or other town official. You'd have to check your weapon when you entered the town, get a chit, and then turn the chit in when you left to get your weapon back.
You can check on the historic "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (which didn't actually happen at the corral) for some history on ordinances prohibiting the possession of firearms in towns.
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Not even close, I'm afraid. Our Founding Fathers coped with a tyrannical government for decades and then fought an 8 year war with the most powerful standing army of their time. They were not in favor of America having a standing Army and they were not in favor of a strong central government becoming tyrannical inevitably.
It was debated whether to have Rights written into the Constitution but the fear was that it would be too limiting. Instead, they create a process to add amendments. There were states who did not want a strong federal government, they were the anti-federalists. But, there was pressure to ratify the Constitution and it had to be unanimous. States demanded a Bill of Rights before they would agree to this new government.
James Madison and George Mason adapted the Virginia Bill of Rights and sent them to the House of Representatives. There were 17 Amendments. The House changed some wording, etc. and sent them to the Senate. The Senate worked on the Amendments and sent the final 12 to the States for ratification. The states ratified 10 of the Amendments which became our Bill of Rights.
Two did not get approved by the states. The original 1st Amendment did not get passed by the States. It involved how the members of Congress would be selected. Had they past that Amendment we would have over 6,000 members of Congress today. No thanks!
The original 2nd Amendment had to do with paying members of Congress. It read: "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened." That Amendment finally did get passed in 1992. Over 200 years after it was sent to he states.
The original 3rd Amendment became what we call the 1st Amendment. The original 4th Amendment became what we call the 2nd Amendment.
When these were first written and sent to the House they were "Articles, not Amendments".
It is interesting to note that the original text sent to the House on the right to keep and bear arms read like this:
"A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person." It was modified to what we now call the 2nd Amendment.
"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."
Sadly, most Americans today are not well versed in our Constitution and that is concerning. How do we protect something we no longer fully understand and in many cases don't even thing about? I find too many people simply don't understand the words as they were written in 1787. Our Founding Fathers debated at length every single concept of our Freedom documents. They chose every single word carefully. If you really want to know what the words mean you need to consult Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. That two volume set of books defines every word used by the Framers.
I have nearly 70 books in my personal collection just on the Constitution and our Founding Fathers. Half of them are over 100 years old. My oldest is Samuel Johnson's Dictionary printed in 1785, the very dictionary that they used. I have Montesquiue's Spirit of Laws printed in 1793 (6th edition) which is how the Framers defined the separation of powers.
I am all for having an intellectual conversation about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and other important writings of the period. But would insist on doing it factually, honestly, and respectfully.