GMMAT

If they'd all had their voices be heard and penned in the US Constitution, Christine....we'd all be better for it....and there would be no such debates.

valor10

This is what makes the U.S. Constitution the 2nd greatest document on Earth, next to the Bible. Ask a black man today and a woman today if our forefathers "foresight" didn't pave the way for equal rights for EVERYBODY. Slavery was common in those days, as was the fact that women were seen, and not heard. I think the liberties that everyone enjoys today speak volumes of the wisdom of our foefathers. As far as the 2nd amendment, it says arms, not guns. Your bow and crossbow areand would be considered arms. The arming of the general public is written into the Constitution to always provide the people of this country the ability to fend off, and fight the possible tyranny of it's government. That's it. No interpretation. Everything else is babble. To say we don't need the 2nd amendment anymore because we will never have to overthrow our government is assinine. Look how far they've carried this non smoking nonsense. You got gays rolling around naked in a public park in San Francisco, and it's their right to do so in that lunitic city. Light up a cigarette in public, and you get thirty days in jail and fined 500 bucks. Socialism.

jackflap

Jeff - I understand that, but unless I am misunderstanding Fran, the Stevens argument is that the only"right" granted to individuals was to serve in a state militia if it became necessary.

That is why I am asking for clarification from their perspective then as to why the additional phrase "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms" was added if the framers were so careful and deliberate in their wording. It would seem to be unecessay and ambiguous if Steven's argument was valid, but maybe I am missing something, at least from "their" perspective.

GMMAT

"Socialism?"

How about "Democracy".....or "Representative Republic"?

You just exceeded my mental capacity. Good questions, Jack. I don't know the answer(s). And.....I can't speak to Stevens "frame of mind"or even to whether or not his argument WAS "valid" in his dissent. It appears he was overruled!

For the "average Joe" gun owner......he basically thinks that the 2nd amendment says that the US Goverment has no right to take away his guns. In reality.....as simplistic as that sounds to the strict constructionist......it IS as simple as that. The USSC said so, last week.

JoeRE

Lets keep this debate grounded people.....we are not anywhere remotely close to debating any socialist tendancies, hypothetical or otherwise....

Socialism:

1.a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. 2.procedure or practice in accordance with this theory. 3.(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

HNI_Christine

This is total bullshoot. Gun control laws doNOTHING to lower our crime rate. DC and Chicago are great examples.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyoLuTjguJA