Quote:
Originally Posted by EdV
By your own words: “If you believe that the second amendment gives you the right to keep and bear arms without governmental infringement, which is the essence of the phrase….” you were showing your fundamental misunderstanding of the 2nd amendment.
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.”
Where in that simple declaration do you see any words such as give, grant, etc. You don't, and you won’t find it anywhere else in the constitution either. So given that, exactly where did that right that this amendment seeks to protect, come from?
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No I don't see those words. Nor do I see them in any other of the amendments. You are making the argument, if I read your post correctly, that you have a natural right to bear arms and the sole purpose of the amendments is to assure that the federal government does not take them away. And by your interpretation, it would therefore have been natural that all races would have the vote, and all sexes, and in fact all ages. It would allow individual states to have governmental endorsement of religions and to prohibit a free press and assembly. Your argument was held by some in the late 1800's and that logic led to a SCOTUS decision that upheld the rights of the states to do nearly anything they pleased. The Klan loved it. I am not making it up, please read about the case
United States v. Cruikshank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You are making the "tenther" argument. For those interested in that belief, start with
Repeal of the 2nd Amendment would not Abolish any Right – Tenth Amendment Center
then google tenther and see what else follows from the interpretation of the constitution given by EdV
Ironically, this same bad decision, which has been mostly overturned, also is the one which allowed the states to enact whatever gun control including complete prohibition of possession. Keep in mind that if the second amendment and all the others only limit the powers of the federal government that leaves the states and localities to do whatever they please, including regulate guns, and prohibit civil rights enforcement, and nullify whatever Federal regulations and laws they believe do not fit in the narrowest definition of powers given the US government.