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It's a 1791 term. In today's language, some say it means "a well-provisioned" militia - that is, everyone shoudl have a gun so that if they have to resist an encroaching federal govt, they'll be able to do it. Others say it's "well trained" - if you have your own gun, chances are you'll know how to use it and will be useful in a militia. And yet others say it provides for state control of how you get to use your gun - which in 2008 isn't a crazy reading of the words, but I gotta tell you it's inconsistent with the rest of the bill of rights to read it that way.
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