Second Amendment - What Does It Mean?
Recently, someone on facebook posted "Your second amendment rights should know no bounderies."Really? Is that true?
Not exactly, there are bounderies and that’s something we all have to be aware of.
"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."
What is a well regulated Militia? We all know what generally falls under this category. Military at a federal level.
To keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, at a federal level. The supreme court since the late 1800's has made it clear that the right to keep and bear arms is a federal level right and the state and local government are within their rights to limit/regulate the sale, type and how arms are to be kept and used.
Let’s also look at the context of the second amendment a little deeper:
With the understanding that even though the government is keeping a well regulated militia, the right to keep and bear arms will not be infringed. This speaks volumes about the purpose of keeping and bearing arm; for defense.
There is no amendment that says "A well regulated hunting organization, being necessary to the feeding of the state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
This immediately negates any argument for bearing arms other than defense. Hunters, sportsmen, etc, technically are all out of luck.
The second amendment was added on the coat tails of the constitution after the war with England. While some statesmen believed a militia would best deal with any civil or national threat, many were still nervous about government in general after having literally used their own arms to fight off England. The ability to keep those arms should the same need arise again was at the forefront of their minds.
Now, even though there is regulation, many sportsmen and gun enthusiast can enjoy their guns at appropriate places, at appropriate times, with appropriate licensing by the local and state governments, even though it has nothing to do with the original intention of the second amendment.