Undertanding the Second Amendment

My Recommendations for America, 2023-2024

Principles of Democracy and Inclusive Economics

Recommendations for Keeping the Promise of Rule by the People

Federal Constitution of U.S.A. : Article 4, Section 4:

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican

Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on

Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature

cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Source: Look for the meaning of "republic" and "republican" in any credible source. The meaning of these terms is from the original Latin "res publica" which means

"rule of the people" or "rule by the people." President Abraham Lincoln referenced this meaning in the last sentence of his Gettysburg Address of November, 1863.

First Recommendation (March 21, 2023)

The Proper Remedy for National Ignorance of the Second Amendment

John Manimas' position on the important issue of public violence and the power of the government to regulate lethal weapons in order to protect the public health and welfare:

The right to personal security, and home security, is distinctly separate from rights of each member State to maintain a militia for defense of people and property.

Article 1, Section 8: The Congress shall have the power:

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Amendment 2

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. (See key phrases below.*, **)

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Key Phrases:

the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. To interpret this properly, one might need to go back to English class or review a book on the English language and grammar. Notice that the Second Amendment does not newly establish a right to bear arms, but states that the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. This English usage is commonly understood as a reference to a right or thing that already exists. The phrase prompts a question: "What right to keep and bear arms?" And the proper response is: "The right to keep and bear arms that already exists in English and Colonial law." Therefore, the Second Amendment was not written to document a new civil and personal right that did not previously exist, but rather to affirm a right that already existed and document the federal commitment not to attempt to deny this established right. The Second Amendment does affirm a legal relationship that is new between the individual states and the new federal government: the states retain the right to maintain an armed militia for their defense and the maintenance of domestic civil order, that is, law enforcement. Each individual state retains their right to exercise the "police power," which is known in political science as the power to do whatever is required to maintain public order and justice, up to and including the power to protect or terminate a human life. This right to maintain a state militia is assured with the following specific stipulations as to how federal power and state power is shared with regard to the armed forces of the states ("militia" in 1787) and the Continental (or federal) Army led by General Washington (which was not deemed to be a permanent army until it later became the Armed Forces of the United States [1916]).

Amendment 4 (*)

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Key phrases in Art. 1, Section 8:

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;(**)

A Reasonable Person's Interpretation:

* The right to possess a firearm for personal or household protection IS NOT the same as the right of a member of a State Militia [1787] or National Guard [20^th century], to possess an automatic firearm or lethal weapon designed for warfare combat. The Fourth Amendment shows that the framers of the Constitution recognized the right of every citizen to enjoy personal security as well as home security. The Fourth Amendment is sufficient to protect the right of a citizen to possess a firearm suitable for this purpose of personal protection, but not a cannon, a machine gun, a tank or bomb -- weapons of war.

** Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. The Congress is vested with the power to make laws or regulations that establish standards of physical and mental health for certification of members of a State Militia. The best way to resolve this problem is for the Congress to enforce the Second Amendment and pass laws that separate weapons for personal safety from weapons of war. Law-abiding citizens can possess weapons for personal safety, but only a State Certified member of the State Militia can possess weapons designed for military combat. The Congress can and should pass laws that describe the minimal state of physical and emotional health required for a citizen to be certified as a member of a State Militia. That power of the Congress is clearly stated in Section 8. A Constitutional "originalist" could not sincerely argue that the Second Amendment gives every individual citizen, or non-governmental groups, the right to accumulate their own personal armory in preparation for civil war. This kind of activity, preparation for armed rebellion, may be justified philosophically or morally under conditions of tyranny, but is never supported by civil law. There is no legal right to disobey the law and resist the government with armed force. If enacted properly, the law would make it illegal for a citizen to possess a weapon of war unless a Certified member of their State Militia. The meaning of the Second Amendment is properly interpreted only when we acknowledge that at the time of the ratification of the Constitution, guns were still made by a gunsmith and were not mass produced. Further, the metallic cartridge (bullet) that made a repeating rifle and handgun possible was not produced until 1845. At the time of ratification, "bearing arms" meant possession of a firearm that required reloading with powder, a wad, a ball and a ramrod. "Re-loading" was a process that required most people a full minute, and the seasoned expert no less than thirty seconds, enough time for a targeted person to escape to safety, or counter-attack.

Members of the "Militia" or National Guard

Some online links provided in response for a search of "what is the National Guard" are more like advertisements than historical facts. Such links are intended to promote the National Guard and attract young adults to join. Therefore, they may give the impression that the "National Guard" has been around since 1636, when the Massachusetts Colony grouped all of their local militia together to form a state militia. Certainly the military folks in the U.S.A. would have to admit there was no "Air National Guard" before 1903.

Wikipedia provided me with a detailed history of how the colonial militia evolved to become the National Guard. The term "National Guard" in English was first used by some New York militia units in 1824, named after the French National Guard in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, who actively supported the American Continental Army in the fight against the British. This became a nationwide militia title in the U.S.A. in 1903. The American National Guard is defined by law in Title 10, United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 246, based on legislative acts passed since June 3, 1916 – in the middle of World War I [Wikipedia: National Guard (United States), February 5, 2023)]. Further legislative acts continued to refine the description of the "Army Reserves" in 1947 and 1956. To any reasonable and honest person, the National Guard or Army Reserve is a military body that has evolved around the ongoing discussion, or controversy, as to the true detailed meaning of the Second Amendment and Article 1, Section 8. It is my personal observation that those who supported the Confederate States in the American Civil War (and some who continue to support the Confederacy or White Supremacy today), would have considered the rebellious forces under the command of General Robert E. Lee to be the militias or "National Guard" of the Confederate States. Those who assaulted the national capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, presented themselves as a self-appointed (unorganized) volunteer militia. Whatever nuance or details might be proposed for the historical evolution of the largest national military force on planet Earth, the right to possess a "gun" is not the right to own a weapon designed for military assault and combat on a battlefield.

Summation: Again, in sum, every citizen has the right, since before the Constitution, to possess a "one-per-trigger" or an "opt" firearm, as was the only type of firearm available before 1840 (originalist); and citizens who qualify according to state and federal law to be a certified or registered member of their state militia are therein authorized to possess (and protect) weapons used for military defense and military combat on a battlefield or theatre of war. The two rights are separate. The citizen's right predated the Constitution and the Second Amendment enshrined the federal promise not to deny or diminish the right of each state to provide for its own military defense.

Position #A