Reply #8: and it can be said

[bossy22]

that the dissenting opinion forgot about the operative clause. In fact Scalia didnt forget about the prefatory clause....if im right there were a few pages dedicated soley to that clause.

You may disagree with his interpretation of the prefatory clause but he didnt just "dismiss" it

So you agree with the dissent that the second amendment was basically a powerless amendment?

i think you should read this article by Akhil Reed Amar http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/122/nov08/amar.pdf

he explains why scalia's ultimate decision was correct (though the means were not as concrete)