Hot-Constitution Center wants input!

[brookstexas]

Note-Earlier post enclosed at end of this one.
All,
I have had a Director with "Editorial Content Control" ability call me back!
I did convey our concerns with their interpretation of the 2ND and she said there is an ongoing review process there. This person sounds sincere
and asked for me to send her written points etc., may not change anything but worth a shot before the first million school kids get it implanted in their mind.
SO- I need something well written point by point "Clarification/Rebuttal" (See Duncans post for an idea)and maybe a few quotes from the founders.
I'd say more than a page is overkill for a reply, any help appreciated.
BrooksTexas

Original Post-

This is from their website www.constitutioncenter.org search for "guns".
This is the new tourist center much touted in the press. A writer named Linda Monk has the job of translating the Constitution for those who can't read evidently-

"The American Revolution was fought by minutemen, ready with their guns at a moment’s notice. Early Americans believed that a militia, composed of citizen-soldiers, was a better safeguard of their liberties than a standing or permanent army. Today the militia consists of the National Guard, drilling in state units. Does the Second Amendment protect only the right of the states to have militias, or does it give individuals a right to bear arms for self-defense as well as national defense? That question is at the heart of the debate over the Second Amendment and gun control."

 

[ravinraven]

minute men?

Is this "writer" actually putting this stuff in front of children to read?

It seems that Washington had a standing army.

There is no argument that the second amendment grants the right to bear arms to citizens. The BOR grants NO rights to governments at any level. The BOR guarantees the rights of the individual.

The anti-liberty crowd is trying to sweet-talk us into slavery. The stupid among us hail their work and lead the way to perdition.

Liberty is not for wimps. The anti-liberty crowd is trying to make wimps of school children before they have tasted liberty. They are a worse enemy that Bin Laden, Saddam, Hitler, Stalin and a dozen others of that stripe rolled into one.

ravinraven

 

[Triad]

There is a grammatical analysis of the Second Amendment here.

From that site:

[Schulman:] "(3) Is the right of the people to keep and bear arms conditioned upon whether or not a well regulated militia, is, in fact necessary to the security of a free State, and if that condition is not existing, is the statement 'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed' null and void?"

[Copperud:] "(3) No such condition is expressed or implied. The right to keep and bear arms is not said by the amendment to depend on the existence of a militia. No condition is stated or implied as to the relation of the right to keep and bear arms and to the necessity of a well-regulated militia as a requisite to the security of a free state. The right to keep and bear arms is deemed unconditional by the entire sentence."

EDIT: I think that showing them what the text of the Second Amendment means should help them understand what the men who wrote it intended.

 

[Old Fuff]

>> Today the militia consists of the National Guard, drilling in state units. <<

This statement is not true, and the following link proves it:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/311.html

Many people, including Gun Rights Advocates, have no idea what constitutes the "Militia of the United States." The idea that the "Modern Militia" and the "National Guard" are one and the same thing is a pure misrepresentation put out by the anti-gun crowd. After you read the link the discussion might get interesting. Keep in mind that one thing that sets the Militia apart from regular forces is that militia members are required to provide they're own weapons and ammunition.

If you are a male, between the ages of 17 through 44, and a citizen of the United States - or a person who has declared an intention to become a citizen - and not exempted you are a member in good standing of the Militia of the United States. Who says? The law says!