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jlf1961 -> RE: Well regulated? (11/15/2008 4:19:43 AM)
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Perhaps, it would be best to look at the constitution in general, and specifically the area dealing with the power of the states and federal government.
No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. Article I, Sec 10, paragraph 1
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. Article I, sec. 10, paragraph 3.
Now, these two paragraphs were the direct cause of the second Amendment.
As we all know, prior to the Revolution, each colony had, by royal decree an established militia, which were used to deal with renegade Indians (i.e Native Americans trying to kick the invaders out) and called up during the French and Indian War.
When the Revolution began, it was the militias that actually began the fighting, remember Lexington and Concord?
While men like George Washington and other soldiers who had served in the Royal Colonial Army had a low opinion of militias, the militia force was the first to fight.
However, George Washington and the 'regular' army officers neglected to remember one very simple fact, the militia did not fight against an enemy in the standard "line up in formation, march toward the enemy and trade musket fire" warfare.
The militia learned to fight using the same tactics used against them by INDIANS, hence the effectiveness of men like the 'Swamp Fox' of the Carolina Colonies.
Militiamen fighting independently fought in ways that, as Lord Cornwallis put it, "Are not civilized, do not follow the rules of war, and in many cases, even more barbaric than the natives of this continent." (he was just upset because the militia in the Carolina colonies, fighting independent of direct Army command, where winning pitched battles by firing from behind trees, rocks, creek beds, and any other cover they could find, and even wore clothing that blended into the landscape)
Amendment II 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.
At this point, in 1791 our founding fathers wrote the above amendment, along with nine others that directly addressed problems that contributed to the revolution in the first place.
Remember, the red coats marching from Boston to Lexington and Concord were doing so to seize weapons, ALL weapons.
Since that time, gun control laws have been passed, that limited the scope of the types of weapons a person could own, but not limiting gun ownership except based on criminal history.
In the modern United States, one cannot own an automatic weapons unless the person has a special license, openly carrying a firearm is limited to outside the city limits, and concealed carrying of firearms is limited by license.
Speaking from the prospective of being ex military, I fail to see the necessity for a weapon that can put 500 to 1000 rounds a minute down range except in a strictly fire suppression role. The truth of the matter is that on full auto, more rounds are wasted than actually hit a target, and using a fully automatic weapon to hunt is rather foolish, unless you want nothing left.
Now, as for state militias carrying weapons of their own choosing, most hunting rifles are 5.56 or 7.62 caliber, with various other calibers taking up the rest.
As in the Revolutionary War, and even in the Civil War, militiamen called up for service often took the weapons of dead enemy troops and discarded their own if they saw an advantage. American militiamen using Kentucky long rifles were the exception....
Should the need arise to fight another revolution on American soil, I would venture to guess that the regular army would be facing a guerrilla war, and the regular army would only consist of those who felt the government was right.
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