Just a few points, Jim, and I'll bow out 'cause this could go on endlessly:
The Founders were well versed in the English language. If they had meant "as passed by congress", they would undoubtedly have said so.
...as did the Supreme Court (finally!), did it not? That would seem to indicate that The Court, and rightly so, considered the second "clause" to be the real 'meat' of that part of the amendment.
Besides, what The Founders were saying there was it's necessary for people to have the right to keep/possess/own arms in order to have a militia. And, again, if The Founders had meant only militia members should have the right to keep and bear arms - they would have said so. Instead what they said was "the people".
...and if the armory is blown up - or its key gets lost? (Okay, admittedly the latter point was mostly in jest.)
"Allowing" him access? Reports are he took the guns...and I believe (I'm not sure of this) one report said he had recently tried to buy a gun locally and was turned down.
LOL! Again, The Founders were well versed in the English language. They used the non specific word "arms" because they had to know weapons would evolve over time and they obviously didn't want "the populace" to be limited to the "arms" of their own (The Founders') time. Had they intended otherwise, they would have woven something like this into the Second Amendment: "If, at some time in the future, arms become too lethal in the eyes of some ("too lethal" slays me! [no pun intended] Again, what are the varying degrees of dead?), then, at that time, congress shall have the authority to determine which arms the people can and cannot keep and bear". But they didn't write in anything like that, did they.
I believe we've pretty much beaten this to death at this point, no? We've both made our points, so, as they say on that network you probably scorn
, let's let (the readers) decide.
A sincere Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and yours, sir.
Larry
I think what the Second Amendment says is this: "As passed by the Congress:
The Founders were well versed in the English language. If they had meant "as passed by congress", they would undoubtedly have said so.
Gun rights advocates conveniently forget the first clause of those statements, and concentrate on the second.
...as did the Supreme Court (finally!), did it not? That would seem to indicate that The Court, and rightly so, considered the second "clause" to be the real 'meat' of that part of the amendment.
Besides, what The Founders were saying there was it's necessary for people to have the right to keep/possess/own arms in order to have a militia. And, again, if The Founders had meant only militia members should have the right to keep and bear arms - they would have said so. Instead what they said was "the people".
If gun enthusiasts are willing to have their guns stored and locked up in a local armory as part of a well-regulated militia, then they should have any firearms they want.
...and if the armory is blown up - or its key gets lost? (Okay, admittedly the latter point was mostly in jest.)
Allowing lunatics like Adam Lanza access to assault weapons is not "well-regulating" a militia. If you think it is, you are sadly mistaken.
"Allowing" him access? Reports are he took the guns...and I believe (I'm not sure of this) one report said he had recently tried to buy a gun locally and was turned down.
...the Second Amendment...does not say anything about allowing the populace to own weapons of a level of lethality that could not have been imagined by the Founders.
LOL! Again, The Founders were well versed in the English language. They used the non specific word "arms" because they had to know weapons would evolve over time and they obviously didn't want "the populace" to be limited to the "arms" of their own (The Founders') time. Had they intended otherwise, they would have woven something like this into the Second Amendment: "If, at some time in the future, arms become too lethal in the eyes of some ("too lethal" slays me! [no pun intended] Again, what are the varying degrees of dead?), then, at that time, congress shall have the authority to determine which arms the people can and cannot keep and bear". But they didn't write in anything like that, did they.
I believe we've pretty much beaten this to death at this point, no? We've both made our points, so, as they say on that network you probably scorn

A sincere Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and yours, sir.
Larry