This is what I send to people that need help understanding the 2nd Amendment:
The plain language of the 2nd Amendment could not be more clear. The problem is the liberals in this country either: A-Cannot read English(too much bilingual education) and/or B-Refuse to take into account the meaning of the words at the time they were written and the intent (clear from all the other contemporaneous documents of the time). Dictionaries from the 1780’s are still available.
“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.”
Let’s break down the grammatical construction of this sentence. First clause, in the 1700’s “well-regulated”, meant well organized and well equipped. Remember clocks called regulators were introduced in the early 18th century. “Militia” were all able-bodied citizens, not only those officially enlisted in a militia. There was no official national Militia until the Militia Act was passed in 1792, AFTER the Bill of Rights was ratified. The second clause is there as a statement of purpose of the Amendment. “Being necessary to the security of a free state”, remember” no taxation without representation”, remember something called the “American Revolution” against the TYRANNY of the English king. The founders wanted to guarantee the right of the people to rebel against their leaders and have the means to do so. The Right to remain FREE! Finally, ” The right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.” A state cannot be free and remain free unless the citizenry can protect that freedom. The third clause, clearly the object of the first two, unequivocally says that the right of the people shall not be infringed. Without a guarantee for the people the first two clauses are meaningless. That means every individual citizen and not infringed. “Infringed” even today means the same thing: In no way transgressed or hindered.
Let me try to make this perfectly clear: The second amendment guarantees an individual right. People who say otherwise either have an agenda or are stupid. ” “Infringed” is pretty clear, back then and even now it means not interfered with, in any way shape or form.
So in plain language what the second amendment means is: “All able bodied citizens have the inalienable right to be armed and to defend their rights as free people from the tyranny of their government or others that threaten their freedom.”
It is simply impossible to look at the Bill of Rights without reading it in the language it was written in, 18th Century English. “Well-Regulated” in particular had a dramatically different meaning. All anyone has to do is read the letters the Framers wrote each other. There was hearty debate over the 2nd and the meaning is clear to anyone that really wants to know it.
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