Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: The RKBA v 2nd Amendment [View all]discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,593 posts)"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 purpose of the first clause is to bind any government restriction generally prohibiting the operation of the right named in the second clause as that restriction would impair the raising of a militia. The citizen militia serves first by the general spirit trust to make available to every person the means to participate in a militia. A true militia is composed of less specialized troops than a regular army. Like the Marine Corps, members are riflemen first then may have also another specialty. General documentation from the time of the origin of the Constitution and BoR supports the NEED for general militia participation.
The citizen militia serves second by tangibly evidencing the trust of the government placed in the people. "When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred." (Machiavelli) People are less inclined to support and participate in a government they hate.
The power of kings and magistrates is nothing else, but what is only derivative, transferred and committed to them in trust from the people, to the common good of them all, in whom the power yet remains fundamentally, and cannot be taken from them, without a violation of their natural birthright.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Government authority extends from the people. Claiming that the government may protect people and prepare for that effort by acquiring and maintaining arms while denying that right to the people is an inherent contradiction.
Finally, the militia operates as a means, if necessary, to take a stand against tyranny. Some say that a rifle won't prevail against a missile. A missile is not a tool of tyranny. Small arms and individual weapons enforce tyranny. A missile is a tool of annihilation. There is no effective defense against an enemy bent on annihilation.