"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
No other of the first Ten Amendments has an explanatory introduction. The right to keep and bear arms is assumed as a basic right, but ONLY in light of service to the security of a free state, and under the auspices of a well-regulated militia.
In other words:
NOBODY HAS A LEGAL RIGHT TO OWN A GUN IN THIS COUNTRY UNLESS THEY CAN SHOW THAT THEIR OWNERSHIP OF SUCH A WEAPON SERVES THE SECURITY OF OUR FREE STATE,
and, SUCH OWNERSHIP MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO A WELL-REGULATED OFFICIAL ORGANIZATION.
So if you are a demonstrably sane person, and can show that your gun ownership will help protect our security, and you are a member of a sanctioned, well-regulated official organization with real social accountability, then the Second Amendment does indicate you have a legal right to own a gun.
Otherwise, FORGET IT. There is NO CONSTITUTIONAL REASON to believe you have the right to keep and bear arms.
There are historic roots to this Amendment. The Founders were foisting a Constitution that imposed a strong central government on a nation that didn't want one.
In an agrarian society, farmers who'd just fought a guerrilla war to defeat an imperial power wanted assurances their local militias would remain intact, and that their ownership of single-shot, hard-to-load muskets would be protected. These were groups of neighbors who knew and trusted each other and wanted mutual protection for their communities.
Slaveowners like James Madison, who crafted the Bill of Rights, also wanted to protect the military units they relied on to track down runaways and stop a slave rebellion.
But the idea that a general populace, full of unbalanced crazy people, would be left at random to own huge arsenals with the killing power we've seen in Florida, Las Vegas, Connecticut and so many other places would have absolutely horrified every one of those who wrote the Constitution and then demanded a Bill of Rights.
This is not what they meant. They'd've never stood for it.
The government they were establishing, for all its class, gender, racial biases, and other faults, was meant to secure "the general welfare."
The Second Amendment is now being deliberately misinterpreted by a predatory industry, a corrupt corporate elite, and an uncaring, would-be dictator. They are protecting the bottom line of a for-profit industry with not a shred of conscience or concern for the security of a free state or the law.
So next time some gun lover throws the Second Amendment at you, throw it right back.
And when you read the horrible news about the inevitable next mass slaughter, remember that sooner or later it will be you or someone you love and it will forever ruin your life.
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