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Originally Posted by Mordoc
Discriminating against a group and banning hanguns are completely different animals. Equal treatment is set in stone in America- or should be, for obvious reasons. The second amendment, however is not. If the Constitution was unchangeable, alcohol would still be illegal and blacks would count as 3/5 of a person.
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Other way around, chief.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in the late 1860s, basically created the doctrine of Equal Protection in consitutional law.
The 2nd Amendment says this: "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed". Interesting thing about the Bill of Rights and why they're different from other amendments: Rights are not granted by governments and are not exclusive to citizens. If the United States dissolved tomorrow we'd all still have the right to free speech, religion, assembly, to bear arms, to be secure in our persons and property, et al.
The 2nd Amendment
does not create the Right to Bear Arms. It, like all Rights, exists independent of governments.
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Originally Posted by Mordoc
Also, I keep getting more and more concerned about how people conveniently forget that the second amendment provides the right to arms for the purpose of maintaining a militia.
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Have you ever heard "regulars" used to refer to professional soldiers? What do you suppose "well regulated" means in light of this usage? Also, the heart of the law is "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed". Not "the people in a militia" or "the right of the militia." The subordinate justification (a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state) for protecting a Right of The People isn't terribly relevant.
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Originally Posted by Mordoc
When's the last time the militia protected our shores from invaders?
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Today? Yesterday? How many countries have run the numbers on invading the continental US and noted that civilian resistance is an unmanagable problem?
I'm not sure if you paid attention to how the American Revolution was waged, but do note that nowhere in the 2nd Amendment is there any reference to foreign threats.
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Originally Posted by Mordoc
And how many gun owners are in a militia?
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All of them? Anyone trained and/or proficient at arms is a member of the militia. The recent concept of "militia" to mean a dozen guys in camo that get together on the weekends to shoot AR-15s and try to use their club as a reason they all need Class III licensing has nothing whatever to do with the intent of the 2nd Amendment.
Disclaimer: I don't own any guns and never have. I do periodically have to qualify and occassionally carry one at work. So keep the "Oh, you crazy gun nuts trying to compensate for your tiny micropenis with firepower" comments in the box.