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Article on the history of gun laws in America
- Thread starter NateDN10
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I didn't say the current situation isn't correct (just that the way everything has been written and developed in it's totality makes it unclear for many people). My opinion is that the current interpretation in DC vs Heller is reasonably sound.
More people need to pay attention to that interpretation rather than argue their own interpretation is the be all and end all.
Clearly when you read the legal reasoning, many make spurious arguments about what they think the 2nd amendment entitles them to.
More people need to pay attention to that interpretation rather than argue their own interpretation is the be all and end all.
Clearly when you read the legal reasoning, many make spurious arguments about what they think the 2nd amendment entitles them to.
NateDN10
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Originally Posted By: R80RS
If you want to understand the Founder's intent regarding the 2nd Amendment, forget The Atlantic and begin with Federalist Papers No. 28, No. 29, and No. 46. The first two are by Alexander Hamilton and No. 46 is by James Madison. This will provide the reasoning behind the intent and wording of the amendment by two of the men who authored it.
Finally got around to reading these. Hamilton and Madison make the case that it's appropriate for the federal government to have an army; that state governments should determine the leaders of their militias; and that, in order to serve in said militias, Americans should possess arms. In this way no one state government would be able to become tyrannical (as other states and the federal government would fight against it), and neither would the federal government be able to become tyrannical (as all the state militias would fight against it).
One quote I liked, from #46:
Quote:
Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion, that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession, than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors.
If you want to understand the Founder's intent regarding the 2nd Amendment, forget The Atlantic and begin with Federalist Papers No. 28, No. 29, and No. 46. The first two are by Alexander Hamilton and No. 46 is by James Madison. This will provide the reasoning behind the intent and wording of the amendment by two of the men who authored it.
Finally got around to reading these. Hamilton and Madison make the case that it's appropriate for the federal government to have an army; that state governments should determine the leaders of their militias; and that, in order to serve in said militias, Americans should possess arms. In this way no one state government would be able to become tyrannical (as other states and the federal government would fight against it), and neither would the federal government be able to become tyrannical (as all the state militias would fight against it).
One quote I liked, from #46:
Quote:
Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion, that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession, than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors.
One thing we do not need is the re-writing of the Constitution.
Typical argument is it is dated or outmoded.
if you do not agree with the Constitution then go somewhere and start your own republic....
Typical argument is it is dated or outmoded.
if you do not agree with the Constitution then go somewhere and start your own republic....
Yep, if the USA is so bad then they need to pack their bags and leave.
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