[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by downeaster

"As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:
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." (My emphasis).

It would appear the reason for our right to bear arms is to protect the state. Along with that right goes the responsibility to muster in a state militia unit when called upon.

It might appear that way to some reading only this quote, but after reading all the supporting papers and arguments of the founding fathers, the US Supreme Court has decided that your interpretation is incorrect. In fact one of the arguments that was made at the time of the constitutional convention was that the people have the right to keep and bear arms in order to protect themselves from the government should it become a tyrannical force. Even by the short sentence that you posted it is apparent that the founders felt that freedom was tied directly to the right of the people to keep and bear arms. They believed that a people whose right to bear arms was taken away would not be truly free.

By the way, in the USA there are 88.8 guns per 100 people. In Iran there are 7.3 guns per 100 people.