The Second Amendment’s Right to Bear Arms: What It Means - The Rutherford Institute

[Reptile]

“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.”—The Second Amendment to the US Constitution

You can largely determine where a person will fall in the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment based on their view of government and the role it should play in our lives.


In the first group are those who see the government as a Nanny State, empowered to look out for the best interests of the populace, even when that means overriding our rights as individuals and free will.


These individuals tend to interpret the Second Amendment to mean that only members of law enforcement and the military are entitled to own a gun. Case in point: President Biden recently (and wrongly) asserted that “the Second Amendment, from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn’t buy a cannon.”


In the second group are those who see the government as inherently corrupt.


These individuals tend to view the Second Amendment as a means of self-defense, whether that involves defending themselves against threats to their freedoms or threats from individuals looking to harm them. For instance, eleven men were recently arrested for traveling on the interstate with unlicensed guns that were not secured in a case. The group, reportedly associated with a sovereign citizens group, claimed to be traveling from Rhode Island to Maine for militia training.


And then there is a third group, made up of those who view the government as neither good nor evil, but merely a powerful entity that, as Thomas Jefferson recognized, must be bound “down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” To this group, the Second Amendment’s assurance of the people’s right to bear arms is no different from any other right enshrined in the Constitution: to be safeguarded, exercised prudently and maintained.

Continues...

The Second Amendment’s Right to Bear Arms: What It Means | By John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead

You can largely determine where a person will fall in the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment based on their view of government and the role it should play in our lives.

www.rutherford.org

 

[VetteGirlMA]

Why is when gun grabbers point to the text of 2A the phrase 'the people' means the military but everywhere else in the constitution the phrase 'the people' means the actual people, not the military. Would the founders really have written an amendment to the constitution that read "the right of the state and its agents to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"? Everywhere in the constitution the wording is in place to limit the powers of government, everywhere, except....for the second amendment. C'mon man!

 

[robjax]

Why is when gun grabbers point to the text of 2A the phrase 'the people' means the military but everywhere else in the constitution the phrase 'the people' means the actual people, not the military. Would the founders really have written an amendment to the constitution that read "the right of the state and its agents to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"? Everywhere in the constitution the wording is in place to limit the powers of government, everywhere, except....for the second amendment. C'mon man!

Why is it that the Bill of Rights are individual rights except when it comes to 2A and then they say it is purely a state right?

 

[Frizzle Fry]

"You can largely determine where a person will fall in the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment based on their view of government and the role it should play in our lives."

That is the opening line of the article... and it's the most pertinent. The founders were very clear about the role of government in our lives, which is why they wrote an all-inclusive document determining EXACTLY what the Feds are allowed to do, and quickly a list of 10 things that shall not be f***ed with. They left a very narrow/difficult path to change said document and even then only left it open to addendums, not re-writing. Almost all of what the feds do these days is outside of that document and has been achieved through sketchy means.

Anyone whose belief is that government should be larger than what the founding fathers described has no business interpretting the 2A. If you're that horny over the idea of f***ing up America, start lobbying for a constitutional amendment, but don't try to bend the very clear meaning of the legal protection that's baked into our countries existence through other means...

 

[VetteGirlMA]

Why is it that the Bill of Rights are individual rights except when it comes to 2A and then they say it is purely a state right?

It's the collective right nonsense. It's been peddled since the reconstruction era when the country did not want armed black men. Voting is a collective right. We all have to get of our a**es and do it together or we end up with the government we deserve. Deciding whether or not I live or die when someone breaks into the house at 2AM is not a collective right that can be voted on especially when it's my life.

The left in this country is still horribly racist and even the left wing people in power in the government snub their collective noses at the inner cities and plight of the poor. They purchase a vote by cutting a check and hoping that continuing the check cutting assures they remain in office. But underneath it all, the left wing elites, including non-white elites, do not ever want a peasant revolt because they know their heads would be on the chopping block. So better to keep them disarmed and in perpetual poverty. How does that old line go, you can vote in tyranny but you have to shoot your way out of it. You can't ever rise up if you're held down. So the left reserves gun rights for the wealthy, mainly wealthy white people and some wealthy black and minorities. Everyone else? Well call the cops, that's all you have when it comes to self defense.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

I don't waste my time debating this anymore. I just tell them to FXXK OFF. Jack.

 

[nutsym16]

When they come for the guns give them the bullets first!

 

[Varmint]

Who cares what some group says/thinks

We know what it says and the supreme court has similarly affirmed its an individual right

/thread

Reptile's RNN needs to not provide oxygen to these O2 thieves

The article is really about the militarization of the police and government agencies. It’s a good read.