Gun Control
GUN CONTROL
"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" - 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Many have wondered the exact and specific meaning of the term "militia", with regards to the 2nd Amendment. This is a rather simple question, that actual requires a rather complex answer. There are 3 major DEFINERS of what exactly makes up the "Militia" of the land, and these are, the founding fathers, the Congress, and the Supreme Court.
1. Founding Fathers
George Mason: "I ask, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people..."
Virginia Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 13 (1776): "That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free State; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty...."
Richard Henry Lee: "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them .... The mind that aims at a select militia [like the National Guard], must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle."
2. U.S. Congress
The Militia Act of 1792. One year after the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution, Congress passed a law defining the militia. The Militia Act of 1792 declared that all free male citizens between the ages of 18 and 44 were to be members of the militia. Furthermore, every citizen was to be armed. The Act stated:
"Every citizen... [shall] provide himself with a good musket, or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints...."
The Militia Act of 1792 made no provision for any type of select militia such as the...
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