Not only can the US Constitution be amended, but existing amendments can be reinterpreted

[YoungDemCA]

Both of these things have happened repeatedly throughout American history.

Also, take a look at the first clause of Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution:

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

There it is, in black and white (pun intended). The institution of slavery is enshrined in the US Constitution. We just disregard that part of the Constitution, because we eventually recognized that our moral code is not (and should not be) dictated by a piece of paper that itself was an imperfect and incomplete compromise between a wide array of wealthy, powerful interests in the era of the early Republic.

Apparently though, for some strange and mysterious reason, the Second Amendment is completely off-limits. The normal process of contextualization, compromise, and regulation does not apply here. Intriguing...

[flamin lib]

1. What you said . . . nt

[elleng]

2. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to amend the constitution?

Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution, the nation's frame of government, may be altered. Altering the Constitution consists of proposing an amendment or amendments and subsequent ratification. Amendments may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a convention of states called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.[1] To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by either—as determined by Congress—the legislatures of three-fourths of the states or State ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states. The vote of each state (to either ratify or reject a proposed amendment) carries equal weight, regardless of a state’s population or length of time in the Union.

and to interpret, amd 2 the only example: Heller v DC: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZS.html

[PoliticAverse]

3. Slavery was eliminated by an amendment to the constitution, amendment 13...

which, btw, was passed years after the year 1808 mentioned in Article I, Section 9.

[lastlib]

4. I wonder how many Second Amendment absolutists......

....have the same hard-on for the Seventh Amendment??

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved...

If you took a twenty-dollar lawsuit into any courtroom in this country today, you'd be laughed out of the building.