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Originally Posted by The_Jazz
As far as the other items go, dksuddeth, you seemed to agree with definition of "well regulated militia" that I put forward in Post #49, and now it seems like you've flipflopped. Has something changed, or did I misread something?
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You may have assumed that I agreed completely with you. I agree that we are all the 'militia'. I agree that we should all be 'well-regulated', in so far as we all know which end is the dangerous end, how to hit what we aim at, and when to use it properly. We should also be 'well-regulated' in that most of us have knowledge of military matters and that those who did not volunteer for military service, relegate themselves to the lower ranks in the 'militia'. I sort of agree on the licensing part but feel that it goes too far and suggests that we have to 'buy' our rights instead or having them naturally. As Barry Goldwater said, "A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.". If we start allowing the government to 'test' us to see if we are worthy enough to exercise our rights, we give them the open door to take them away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Jazz
States test for all sort of professional proficiency, and there's the sticky point that the Amendment itself call for a "well regulated" militia. Your fears of Big Brother aside, what's the objection? There is no such provision for free speach or religion in the 1st Amendment, so I don't see how you can try to draw the two together since the Amendment says what it says. It seems to me that the framers pretty clearly wanted the states to make sure that gun owners knew one end of the gun from the other, and requiring a basic skills and safety test doesn't seem onerous to me at all.
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Driving is not a right, it's a priviledge. Therefore, testing is appropriate. We are all guaranteed the right to travel freely, so if I wanted to walk or ride a horse, nobody can legally stop me. Now, in regards to the 'militia' part of the amendment, all that says is that we the people are the militia, necessary to the security of a free state and our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. We don't answer to the government in militia matters (unorganized) although we can work in concert with them. The government is our servant, not our master. Firearms proficiency and the 2nd amendment should inherently be considered a duty to all free peoples. We've let a tyrannical and oppressive government take over that duty and shirked it ourselves.