The 2nd Amendment

 Regular readers know of my interest in shooting pistols and rifles.  I enjoy preparing for and shooting matches, as well as going to the range to decompress at the end of a tough day.  I've written several entries concerning gun violence and the AR-15, but what I've not done until now was comment on the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.  As usual, buckle up, because I ain't gonna say what you think I am.

The 2nd Amendment is fairly brief and worded in an odd manner, with a comma in a really dumb place.  

"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."

But what the hell does that mean?  To reach that understanding requires a (hopefully) short history lesson.

First, during that period of time, it was common practice to keep a firearm for personal defense.  In fact, English law specifically allowed white protestant men to do so.  So, it was considered a given, with respect to being a personal freedom.  Also, Madison, Jefferson, and others endorsed retaining this freedom in correspondence amongst themselves.  

Militias

When the US won independence, our main fighting force consisted of militias from the colonies, each under command of a duly elected state leader.  These militias predated the Revolution and every fighting age man was required to serve, which meant drilling once or twice per month to ensure readiness.  The men were also obligated to own military grade muskets and appropriate uniforms.  Because these militias were wildly inconsistent in their capabilities, during the war, they were ultimately rolled under the command of George Washington, who built them into the cohesive force that defeated the British.  After the war, the various militias went home.

The Constitution and Bill of Rights

In 1787, our newborn country was attempting to get itself organized.  A bunch of smart guys spent a long summer sweating their asses off in Philadelphia hashing out what would become the Constitution.  The reason they were sweating was because it was summer and they kept the windows closed to prevent eavesdropping before the document was ready.  It might surprise you to learn the Constitution's ratification wasn't a slam dunk.  There were still those who wanted to remain a loose confederation of independent states, being justifiably afraid of a government that could do as it pleased.  But it did get ratified and life was good, right up to the point where the TJ, Jamie Mads, and the boys realized they'd screwed up by not including specific rights of the citizens.  Creating and ratifying the Bill of Rights wasn't a cake walk.  Those who took part in drafting the Constitution weren't in the mood to spend another summer in Philadelphia, sweating their asses off with the windows closed.  However, after much campaigning by James Madison, another meeting was convened.  

Many hours were spent narrowing down the various amendments to the ten that ultimately made up the Bill of Rights.  Some were written from a blank sheet of paper, whereas others were adapted from the various states' constitutions.  The Second Amendment falls into the latter category, having been mostly copy pasted from the Massachusetts constitution.  The adaptation and word jockeying is why it's so poorly written.  

A Standing Army

Because of how challenging it was to deal with separate militias, in the face of a large enemy, the Founding Fathers decided the best course was to establish a standing army, and included such provisions in the Bill of Rights.  This scared the hell out of many, because a centrally commanded army could easily be the enforcers of tyrannical central government like the one they'd just defeated.  Therefore, there were many influential men who wanted to preserve the states' rights to maintain their own militias as a check against this.  The Second Amendment did just that.

Second Amendment Meaning

Again, the Second Amendment was written solely to preserve the rights of the states to maintain militias, conferring no rights to individuals, except in the context of those serving their state militias.  Further evidence of this can be found in The Federalist Papers.  These were a series of eighty five anonymous "letters to the editor" written by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and published in numerous newspapers, mostly in New York.  Their purpose was to expound on the reasons ratifying the Bill of Rights was so crucial as well as to allele the fears of the citizenry.  Again, the idea of a central government remained a scary thing to many in 1789.  The Second Amendment were only mentioned in articles 29 and 46, both of which referenced militias, omitting any allusion to a personal right to keep firearms.  Yes, I've read a lot of stuff on the subject!

In conclusion, based upon what I've read in various source material, I'm convinced the Founding Fathers considered personal ownership of arms for protection to be an uncontested norm of society.  Therefore, they didn't feel it needed to be enshrined in the Constitution.  However, the Second Amendment does not confer that right, which was confirmed no less than three times by the Supreme Court.  

As a footnote, that changed in 2008, with the Heller decision.  I've read the majority opinion, written by Justice Scalia and it's a hack job.  The supposed originalist went off the reservation with more recent material that he misinterpreted.  But, it's the law of the land now, regardless of the Founding Fathers' intent.  And yes, I'm keeping my guns.