A well regulated militia being necessary to the security

[LiberalArkie]

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.

I am a very stupid person. I have never understood how an individual going to a store and purchasing a gun, becomes part of a well regulated militia.

I can understand how a person in the national guard, or a police dept can be thought of as a "well regulated" organization, but how does the john doe just walking down the street automatically become a member of a well regulated militia upon the purchase of a weapon.

Is this like getting dunked in a Baptist church and automatically "Born Again" and no matter what you do you go to heaven?

Like I said I am very ignorant person and I can't grasp some ideas. As a child I could not get my head wrapped around why one color person had more rights than another color. Or why some people can marry and others can't.

I just get hung up on the "well regulated militia" thing.

[hack89]

1. Talk to President Obama - he understands.

Obama lays out his basic stance on guns in a "Sportsmen" fact sheet and also in an "Urban Policy" paper on reducing gun violence.

Obama, "Sportsmen": Barack Obama believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms. He will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns.

http://www.factcheck.org/2008/09/nra-targets-obama/

[Schema Thing]

4. he can believe whatever the fuck he wants, but gun rights are ONLY related

to having a well regulated militia insofar as the 2nd amendment is concerned.

[hack89]

6. Yet so many legal scholars (including the president) disagree with you.

what a hard choice - go with the legal scholars or some anonymous internet poster.

[thelordofhell]

2. Because you only have so many standard issue firearms

[slackmaster]

3. You don't have to buy a gun to become a part of the militia. You probably already are.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/311

[HopeHoops]

5. If need be, I'm prepared to join a militia. I doubt it will occur, but I'm armed and ready.

Nothing I have is even close to the arsenal the asshole in the theater had, but in the context of a "militia" I would be ready.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. It was put in because we didn't have a standing army at the time.

Now we do. A very expensive army and 3 other branches all armed. Not to mention the National Guard and the ready reserves.

But, it's nice for the comic book wannabee soldiers to think themselves ready to go out and fight the current bogeymen. Or, shoot up a theater, or kill a kid armed with candy.

[johnsolaris]

8. 2nd amendment

Hi,

The 2nd amendment to the Constitution was written with 18th century philosophy. During this time a well regulated militia was needed to guard & keep safe the mainly Rural population from the supposedly Savage Indians & other invaders. In the 1700's & up to the civil war, the United States standing army was relativity small & needed local militias to help protect the citizens.

When the Civil War was fought, The Confederate army was made of mainly local militia. Even in the North, local militias were a prominent part of local communities. They paraded on July 4th & other holidays. Up until World War one, The USA had a small standing army compared to the rest of the World.

This all changed in the early 20th century, when advances in manufacturing, I E:; the assembly line made making guns & everything else much faster & easier. The gun makers need a willing populace to buy their product & keep the profits rolling in the door. The gun manufacturers partnered with the NRA & used the 2nd amendment as a slogan to sell more guns, & guns & guns. Now the paranoid Right wing uses the 2nd amendment, & that the Constitution is a great & infallible work that should be followed no matter what the consequences.

If Human society is to move forward, we must throw out the Gun Cult & reach out to our fellows humans with out stretched hands of Peace & Joy, not bullets.