Selective Perception

[Left Turn Only]

Is everyone missing the first half of the sentence in the Second Amendment? "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."

The states' rights-conscious Founding Fathers of our country wanted to make sure that each state could protect itself against any possible intrusions of tyranny from the new central government they created, which is why in times of war the state militias had to be organized into a national army instead of the standing national army we have today. It would not have been possible to have state militias without the rights of individuals to have guns; therefore, the main thrust of this Amendment is to preserve the states' rights to having their own armies. How this sentence has been cut to eliminate the first half (even by the Supreme Court) is a constant source of amazement to me. Also, if the goal is to infer the deeper meaning by the writers of the Constitution, keep in mind that the only guns available were single-shot weapons. Does any sane-minded person really believe that the Second Amendment taken in its entirety means that people are allowed to carry around assault weapons? Some people say they just want to own these weapons of mass killings; maybe we should be allowed to have shoulder-fired missiles since they're arms too?

What's the point? If someone really believes they need these weapons to protect themselves from our own government, do they really think they could hold off attack helicopters and missiles from drones and all the other really cool weapons of the military? You don't have to be a Constitutional scholar to look at the COMPLETE 2nd Amendment to realize that the gun industry has taken its meaning a bit too far. In reality the 2nd Amendment has become outdated since the writers of the Constitution would never have imagined that "arms" would turn into what they did, not to mention, we no longer have state militias.

[Bonhomme Richard]

1. The reality of this statement........

"If someone really believes they need these weapons to protect themselves from our own government,"
Is enough for me to say that they do not have the mental wherewithal to own weapons.
Disclosure:I am a gun owner

[Mnemosyne]

2. Those fearful, cowardly souls could be taken out without ever knowing what hit them. They are

clueless.

[hack89]

3. I don't own guns to protect myself from the government

I just enjoy competitive target shooting.