In article ,
Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
...snipped...
BTW, the Second Amendment states right up front why people should have
the right to bear arms. Have you signed up with your local militia? Does
your local militia commander know how to get in touch with you to summon
you for duty and what weapons you have and how well skilled you are in
their use? Do you report for training as required?


That is a misconception. In the context of the time and circumstances
when it was written, the intent of the framers was that "the right
of the people to keep and bear arms" should not be infringed _because_
the government maintained a militia. IOW, the _people_ were guaranteed
the right to have firearms as protection against the government using the
militia against them. The "shot heard round the world" was in response
to the British forces attempt to disarm the colonists. At the time, the
terms militia, army, etc. were used more or less interchageably.




--
When the game is over, the pawn and the king are returned to the same box.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org