Most settlements and towns at the time had an organized militia. There was a very specific definition as to what that was in the late 18th century. These militias later evolved into what we know now as the National Guard, stemming from the experience of the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 12:58 AM, Judah McAuley <ju...@wiredotter.com> wrote: > > The militia certainly can be all of us...and ought to be well > regulated. Hence the term "well regulated". > > I do believe that the founding fathers viewed many of the heavy handed > weapons restrictions as tools of tyranny wielded by England and they > wanted to make sure that that was not going to happen in America. > Absolutely. > > However, they were also men who tempered their idealism with > practicality. While early America championed the cause of collective > self defense, they also did not see the right to keep and bear arms as > all-encompassing and absolute by any means. Witness the case of > Aymette vs. The State in 1840: > > "The legislature, therefore, have a right to prohibit the wearing or > keeping weapons dangerous to the peace and safety of the citizens, and > which are not usual in civilized warfare, or would not contribute to > the common defense. The right to keep and bear arms for the common > defence is a great political right. It respects the citizens on the > one hand and the rulers on the other. And although this right must be > inviolably preserved, yet, it does not follow that the legislature is > prohibited altogether from passing laws regulating the manner in which > these arms may be employed." > > The 2nd Amendment was passed in the context of collective self > defense. It is absolutely important. It is not and has never been an > all encompassing right that rejects all attempts at reasonable > regulation. > > Judah > > On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 9:36 PM, LRS Scout <lrssc...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> I don't ignore either part. Remember, who is the militia? >> >> According to Madison it is all of us. >> >> No, I'm sorry. My reading of the thoughts of the founders has proven to me >> beyond a shadow of a doubt that they men the arms trade to be free and open >> and without the fetters it currently has. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:355724 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
