Speaking of the 2nd Amendment, if anyone on the Supreme Court actually... [View all]

[TreasonousBastard]

wants to read the minds of the founders (talking to you-- Scalia's Ghost) try understanding the situation of the new US, and the world at the time.

The new nation had a Navy for protection, but had no standing army. Armies were considered to be mischievous things that caused nothing but trouble. They cost money and kept on getting involved in city-states warring against each other, and revolutions when the spirit took them.

At the time, Federalists were saying there's really no need for a declaration of rights, and slave and free states were ready to cut each others throats.

State militias were the highest law of the land back then, and they could be federalized if, say, Canada invaded us. A real threat, since they were part of the British empire at the time-- the same British empire we fought again in 1812.

Anyway, NY and Virginia were the biggest states at the time, and they needed both of them to approve the Bill of Rights or it would die. Since we had no Army, state militias were it, and we had already seen how governments in Europe went after civilian arms in order to control the population. Can't have Washington locking up arms the militia might have to use.

Turns out, though, that one of the the biggest uses of the state militias was putting down slave organizing in the southern states. There were things like the Whiskey Rebellion (our first tax revolt) happening at the time of ratification, but slave revolts really scared the the shit out of Southerners and the white State militias were their defense.

There's a lot of history from back then that could be useful in the current debate.

https://rantt.com/2nd-amendment-and-slavery

And then...

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-2/second-amendment-doctrine-and-practice

United States v. Wright, 117 F.3d 1265 (11th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1007 (1997) (member of Georgia unorganized militia unable to establish that his possession of machine guns and pipe bombs bore any connection to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia).