General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I no longer give two f*cks about your 2nd Amendment rights. [View all]Nitram
(22,822 posts)...as it is to regulate the unfettered use of guns by individuals. The framers saw the danger and tried to limit it by limiting the right to "bear arms".
A little history might help your understanding of why the militia clause was included. A popular armed rebellion known as Shay's Rebellion, against the state had taken place the year before the Constitution was signed. It was put down with the Massachusetts state militia. The need for militias to put down armed rebellion by disgruntled mobs (like the Tea Party) was codified in the Constitution as a result. Militia were subsequently used to put down the Whiskey rebellion in 1786 and Frie's Rebellion in 1791.
The 2nd Amendment does not, as the NRA insists, give people the right to bear arms against the state when they feel the state has over-stepped the bounds of the Constitution. It codifies the right of the people to bear arms in a well-regulated milita for the purpose of putting down popular rebellions by people "bearing arms" against the state..