Democratic SoS Candidate Destroys Second Amendment Myths

[babylonsister]

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/07/democratic-sos-candidate-destroys-second

Democratic SoS Candidate Destroys Second Amendment Myths
Former Marine and Arizona Secretary of State candidate Adrian Fontes dismantles some of the right-wing arguments on the Second Amendment.
By Susie Madrak — July 29, 2022

Stephanie Ruehl closed last night with a reality check on the Second Amendment and "a well regulated militia."

"Here is how the Second Amendment puts it. Quote, '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.' But what does that really mean? Well, Adrian Fontes is a Democratic candidate for Arizona secretary of state, and a former U.S. Marine marksmanship instructor. And he has taken some time to try and dismantle some of the right-wing Second Amendment lies about the right to bear arms. So for fact's sake, watch this," she said.

"I think there's a lot of people who don't understand what the Second Amendment actually means in context of the whole Constitution. Right? Right. Confusion is, I can just be a militia by myself, and a well regulated militia just means what I want it to mean. That is not true. It's 100 percent not true.

"Here is what it means. 'Congress shall have the power to call for the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress interactions and repel invasions.' The militia in the context of our Constitution is enforcing the laws of the Union. They work for the government. Not against some tyrannical fantasy government that you guys are fetishizing against. That is not what it's supposed to mean. It says so right here.

"It also says 'the Congress shall the power to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia.' That means you get your militia arms from the government. You don't buy them yourself. That is what the Constitution says. Congress provides the rules for the militia. Congress provides the arms for the militia. Congress calls up the militia. You don't just get to be a militia on your own.

"And look at this thing, this is what we had to teach Marines. It's a two-week course, Marines have to go through this every single year to be qualified to shoot with the M-16A2 service rifle. Which is like the AR-15. But an 18-year old in the United States of America, an 18-year-old doesn't have to go through any of that training, can go grab an AR-15, and do damage like they have done, and murder kids in classrooms like they have done. Like they continue to do.

"It's crazy!"

"It is crazy. Adrien Fontes, thank you, thank you for your service, and thank you for that reality check," Ruehl concluded.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. It's as crazy as the rogue, outlaw Supreme Court.

[IronLionZion]

2. I've always thought of it as our national guard and reserves

but many vehemently disagree

[ratchiweenie]

6. That is my exact take on it. Each state has their own militia and it's called the national and state

guard.

[DENVERPOPS]

13. That is exactly, precisely what it means ILZ

Each State's National Guard.

(The reserve units are an entirely different matter)

Of course the Republicans, Trump Humpers and now the right wing corrupted Supreme court define it differently.

The Dems should go for broke and increase the number of justices just to neutralize their asses with Dem appointed justices.

It's time to shoot the moon, and go all out to defeat them while there is still time.

It is down to three months for the 2022 election. If the Republicans, by hook or by crook take either the house, senate or both, don't even be concerned about the 2024 election. I predict that the morning after the 2022 election, regardless of what happens, their may be Mayhem all over America. If the Repubs win, it will embolden the 70 Million Trump Voters to immediately start a nation wide January 6th. And if the Dems win, it will embolden the 70 Million Trump Voters to immediately start a nation wide January 6th at every last State Capitol across the nation............These are mean, angry, borderline Psychopath, sons of bitches, all just biting at the bit to act out in ways we can't even imagine.

[Delmette2.0]

3. Yes, right in Section 8 of the Constitution.

Section 8 covers a lot of stuff, but towards the end the militia is established and controlled.

[TheRickles]

4. Good to be able to quote chapter and verse.

[Martin Eden]

5. Adrian Fontes is Spot-On

Also, 2A is an anachronism and the SCOTUS is a dangerous disgrace.

[Amishman]

7. Looking at context from contemporary sources, he is likely incorrect

As much as we don't like it, and it is not a good idea, the 2nd probably was meant as an individual right. Numerous state constitutions have it clearly phrased as an individual right. PA's for example: ' right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned'. It is an individual right with one of its primary reasons being militia / national defense. If that reason becomes moot (which it is), the right does not go away unless explicitly negated.

The militia/ limited collective right interpretation doesn't hold up very well.

That being said, is it still relevant to modern society? Probably not, this is why we have the amendment process.

[maxsolomon]

16. "Probably".

That's a bit vague, isn't it?

[Amishman]

18. Before Trump and his followers, I would have said definitely

Now, sometimes I wonder what will be needed in the future.

[HighFired49]

17. I agree. I had a college history professor

who explained the 2nd Amendment this way: At the time the 2nd Amendment was written, the nascent US government did not have the funds to supply arms to men that it wanted to call up in case the need arose. They wanted men to be armed so that they could not only call them, but also call them up with their weapons. The men were required to bring their weapons with them in the event that they were called for national service. The same applied to state militias. Even some towns on the frontier required every man who lived in the town to be armed to protect the town citizens in case of attacks from other groups, such as Native Americans, or foreign nationals, i.e. Spanish, French, English militias, or groups of armed robbers, etc. The Fed. Govt. didn't want its citizens to be unarmed in case that the government need them for service. To look at the 2nd Amendment though this lens clarifies its meaning as to how it was meant to be a guarantee for bearing arms to protect the new nation. After the government became capable of arming a standing military, and states and towns organized sheriffs and guard units, the 2nd Amendment lost most of its original necessity, other than self protection and hunting to eat.

I think that the right to bear arms could be limited in many ways, as it was in earlier times, such as checking in your weapon with the town sheriff upon entering the town limits in many places. In addition, armed private militias are illegal in all 50 states. If they aren't state sponsored, they are just an armed mob.

[mopinko]

19. what he got wrong, from what i know.

i have only rarely heard this in 2a convos, and not sure where i heard it, but i think thom hartmann-
2a was a reaction to how hard it had been to arm the continental army, and was meant to stand up a militia that HAD THEIR OWN GUNS.

[Aristus]

8. My armor-piercing question to the gunfucks is this:

The framers of the Constitution intended for citizen militias to be the national defense for the United States, because the newly-free people of the USA distrusted standing armies, and considered them to be the enforcement arm of tyrannical monarchies.

So, if you think you are a militia, that must mean you want to disband the Armed Forces of the United States. Is this true?

Gunfucks are all such military fetishists that they would never agree that the military should be disbanded.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Wake me when Fontes replaces Thomas on the Extreme Court.

Until then, it's all just academic niceties. And, maybe we need a few more justices replaced.

Maybe Marines have to go through annual training. In the Army, we just had to shoot the rifle (M14 at that time) once a year. If we could turn in the correrct number of spent brass casings, we passed. I guess they assumed Army personnel could remember what we learned in basic training.

[Turbineguy]

10. But....

who will think of the profits?

Never mind the children.

[pandr32]

11. Yes! The U.S. Constitution spells it out.

Seems to me we now have our military/militia in both Federal and State forms. Back when the U.S. Constitution was written, and then the 2nd Amendment, we had a Navy and armies had to be called up. We needed to keep them prepared and so the Constitution spells out how those 'militias' are to be organized, trained, and funded. The 2nd Amendment was used to cover militia individuals need to "bear arms". The War of 1812 had yet to happen.
There has been so much discussion about clauses and commas, but little if ever about how militias are covered in detail within the U.S. Constitution itself.

[MadMike47]

12. The second amendment was meant to placate southern slaveowners.

It basically gave them permission to form militias in order to put down slave rebellions.

[Kaleva]

14. Will this YouTube video remove all opposition to the passage of sensible gun control laws?

IMHO, this video will convince gun control advocates that they were right all along and that's about it.

[maxsolomon]

15. Suppress "Interactions"?

It's "Insurrections". Kind of an important distinction!

Clause 15
Clause 15. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.

Clause 16
Clause 16. The Congress shall have Power * * * To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

[sl8]

21. He said "insurrections", the article transcribed it wrong. nt

[live love laugh]

20. WELL REGULATED .... Key words absent in our policies

How do you regulate unregistered, untrained, unaccountable armed lunatics?

The escalating deregulation of gun laws should be a Supreme Court case.

At the very least it might be fun to watch them contort themselves to justify support of burgeoning, lawless anytime anywhere no-need-to-register-or-conceal gun laws.