Re: CAN THE STATE MILITIAS EVER BE ABOLISHED?

Peter H. Proctor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: 

> On 28 Nov 2003 19:46:56 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Leif
> Rakur) wrote:
> 
>>When the Second Amendment was written, the states already
>>had their militias.  The amendment was about protecting the
>>people in their right to continue their state militia
>>systems of security without infringement from the federal
>>government. 
> 
>      Actually,  it was protecting the "Right of the People"
>      separate 
> from the states.   Otherwise,  it would have said "states"
> as in the 10th amendment.

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state..."

You boys have a real problem with that part of the Second 
Amendment.  How can you just delete the states from the Second 
Amendment then insert "individuals" for "the people"?

I know that you do it, I just wonder how you believe it.
 
>        Similarly, at the time,   the only constutional
>        power the feds 
> had over citizens arms would have been their control of the
> militia. One of the antifederalists wrote "they can disarm
> the militia" as part of his opposition to the new
> constitution.   So,  another likely goal of the 2nd
> amendment was to prevent the feds from using its militia 
> powers to disarm the citizenry.   

The states had granted personal gun rights since at least 1776, 
and they retained that reserved power under the Tenth 
Amendment.  Jurists back in the 19th C. understood that pretty 
well.  

I see use of the word citizenry but you're not pretending that 
every citizen has a duty to serve in the militia, because that 
would mean as Lief points out that little children and old 
people and disabled people and convicted felons and domestic 
abusers and others possibly disallowed by law to have guns at 
all would be mustered into a nominal militia.

Which is nonsense.  

The purpose of the Second Amendment was simply to prevent 
Congress from disarming the well-regulated state militia.  No 
personal gun rights were discussed or included.

_________________


Madison's draft of the militia amendment as it was presented to 
Congress, June 8, 1789:

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the
best security of a free country: but no person religiously 
scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render
military service in person."


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