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Old 09-30-2005, 09:16 AM   #22
Ilander
20th Level Warrior
 

Join Date: December 28, 2003
Location: Kentucky
Age: 39
Posts: 2,820
Early US legal documents often list things without a clear, easily recognizeable structure to the list. As an example, look up the Declaration of Independence, specifically the usurpations part. It starts out pretty clear, then starts to be kind of hazy in its writing, then comes back again.

I see the second amendment as a list of 2 things: The right to a well regulated militia, AND the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

One could also make a case that this is a failsafe---that the framers of the Constitution felt that the people would make up a well-regulated militia, in case of the failure of the official army.

I like that interpretation, partially because it seems the most apt to be correct, historically speaking (after all, most of the Revolutionary Army was composed of simple people who'd grown up with guns in their hands), and partially because it reminds me of the Admiral Isoroku Yammamoto quote:

Quote:
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
Speaking on behalf of my entire home county in Northeastern Kentucky...especially since Dron_Cah isn't here much nowadays...we really like the sentiment that quote expresses.
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