{"id":91514,"date":"2023-04-03T01:37:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T06:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=91514"},"modified":"2023-04-03T01:37:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T06:37:20","slug":"91514","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=91514","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2nd Amendment’s Misconstrued ‘Militia’<\/a>
\nWhat so many people get so wrong<\/p>\n

America\u2019s latest episode of mass homicide has sparked renewed advocacy for restrictions on gun ownership. Once again, the accompanying debate has many gun control advocates claiming the Second Amendment\u2019s reference to a \u201cwell regulated militia\u201d narrows the amendment\u2019s scope if not rendering it altogether moot.<\/p>\n

Before we examine those claims, it\u2019s important to ensure readers have a proper general understanding of the Bill of Rights. Contrary to common misperception, these amendments do not bestow privileges upon American citizens. Rather,\u00a0they are primarily a set of\u00a0<\/strong>prohibitions<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0against the government infringing on\u00a0<\/strong>pre-existing human rights<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>all people have.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s evident in the language. For example, the First Amendment begins \u201cCongress shall make no law<\/strong>\u2026\u201d This amendment isn\u2019t awarding citizens the rights of religion, speech and assembly \u2014 it\u2019s outlawing the government\u2019s thwarting of those innate and universal human rights.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Fourth Amendment asserts that\u00a0\u201cthe right of the people<\/strong>\u00a0to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,\u00a0shall not be violated<\/strong>.\u201d Again, the authors are not\u00a0granting<\/em>\u00a0those rights, they are\u00a0protecting<\/em>\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

When the Bill of Rights was proposed, some feared the enumeration of a handful of rights could be misinterpreted as providing a comprehensive catalogue \u2014 and thus empowering the government to infringe on human rights not specified. That\u2019s why they included the Ninth Amendment, asserting that \u201cthe enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmendment II. 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.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With that understanding of the Bill of Rights in mind, we see that, via the Second Amendment, the founders explicitly asserted that there is a \u201cright of the people<\/em>\u00a0to keep and bear arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about that reference to \u201ca well regulated militia\u201d? As we set out to scrutinize the phrase, let\u2019s first observe that the Second Amendment contains two distinct components serving two different purposes:<\/p>\n