The ambiguity, if indeed there is one (I have my doubts), is in the wording of the Second Amendment, which says "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Infringed here means that even legislature of indirect effect is prohibited: the Congress of the general government cannot make it.
Whether this refers to the people in their capacity as individuals or in their collective capacity as militiamen is open to debate: but in either case they are Americans, and in either case they have that right, as a matter of plain fact, no debate, no question, case closed. It is not a supposition.
Obviously, no legal scholar interprets the passage to mean that 'all' Americans, including the inmates of jails and madhouses, have a right to bear arms. The passage means that the ancient right of free men to bear arms, a right understood in the light of English Common law, cannot be abridged by the Congress.
The degree to which local governments can limit the ownership of arms without running afoul of the 14th Amendment (which applies at least some Bill of Rights provisions against the State governments) is one not yet settled by a clear Supreme Court case.
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Re: Militiamen are also Americans
Date: 2006-12-06 10:03 pm (UTC)Whether this refers to the people in their capacity as individuals or in their collective capacity as militiamen is open to debate: but in either case they are Americans, and in either case they have that right, as a matter of plain fact, no debate, no question, case closed. It is not a supposition.
Obviously, no legal scholar interprets the passage to mean that 'all' Americans, including the inmates of jails and madhouses, have a right to bear arms. The passage means that the ancient right of free men to bear arms, a right understood in the light of English Common law, cannot be abridged by the Congress.
The degree to which local governments can limit the ownership of arms without running afoul of the 14th Amendment (which applies at least some Bill of Rights provisions against the State governments) is one not yet settled by a clear Supreme Court case.