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In reply to the discussion: Only a real coward would want to use the kind of guns the NRA says are for hunting. nt [View all]jody
(26,624 posts)85. Agree and the Heller opinion said:
Before addressing the verbs keep and bear, we interpret their object: Arms. The 18th-century meaning is no different from the meaning today. The 1773 edition of Samuel Johnsons dictionary defined arms as weapons of offence, or armour of defence. 1 Dictionary of the English Language 107 (4th ed.) (hereinafter Johnson). Timothy Cunninghams important 1771 legal dictionary defined arms as any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another. 1 A New and Complete Law Dictionary (1771); see also N. Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) (reprinted 1989) (hereinafter Webster) (similar).
The term was applied, then as now, to weapons that were not specifically designed for military use and were not employed in a military capacity. For instance, Cunninghams legal dictionary gave as an example of usage: Servants and labourers shall use bows and arrows on Sundays, &c. and not bear other arms. See also, e.g., An Act for the trial of Negroes, 1797 Del. Laws ch. XLIII, §6, p. 104, in 1 First Laws of the State of Delaware 102, 104 (J. Cushing ed. 1981 (pt. 1)); see generally State v. Duke, 42Tex. 455, 458 (1874) (citing decisions of state courts construing arms). Although one founding-era thesaurus limited arms (as opposed to weapons) to instruments of offence generally made use of in war, even that source stated that all firearms constituted arms. 1 J. Trusler, The Distinction Between Words Esteemed Synonymous in the English Language37 (1794) (emphasis added).
Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment . We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g., Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U. S. 844, 849 (1997) , and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States, 533 U. S. 27, 3536 (2001) , the Second Amendment extends, prima facie,to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.
The term was applied, then as now, to weapons that were not specifically designed for military use and were not employed in a military capacity. For instance, Cunninghams legal dictionary gave as an example of usage: Servants and labourers shall use bows and arrows on Sundays, &c. and not bear other arms. See also, e.g., An Act for the trial of Negroes, 1797 Del. Laws ch. XLIII, §6, p. 104, in 1 First Laws of the State of Delaware 102, 104 (J. Cushing ed. 1981 (pt. 1)); see generally State v. Duke, 42Tex. 455, 458 (1874) (citing decisions of state courts construing arms). Although one founding-era thesaurus limited arms (as opposed to weapons) to instruments of offence generally made use of in war, even that source stated that all firearms constituted arms. 1 J. Trusler, The Distinction Between Words Esteemed Synonymous in the English Language37 (1794) (emphasis added).
Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment . We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g., Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U. S. 844, 849 (1997) , and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States, 533 U. S. 27, 3536 (2001) , the Second Amendment extends, prima facie,to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.
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Only a real coward would want to use the kind of guns the NRA says are for hunting. nt [View all]
kelliekat44
Jan 2013
OP
Sure they can, but I'm betting they enable as many, if not more, than they stop. nt
white_wolf
Jan 2013
#9
You still are trying desperately to equate non negligent acts with negligent ones
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#63
The issue with nukes is not negligent use - it is malicious deliberate use. Just like with guns. nt
hack89
Jan 2013
#67
I already pointed out that nuclear weapons have killed far fewer people than guns
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#68
The Constitution does not mention "guns", it uses the more general term "arms"
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#80
So you hate all guns? Of every kind? Because that lady killed her brother with one? How 'bout knives
Honeycombe8
Jan 2013
#19
If the gun wasn't there, would the young man now be dead of a gunshot wound inflicted by his sister?
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#22
If the kitchen knives weren't there, would that teen's mother still be alive?
Honeycombe8
Jan 2013
#43
And the rest of us are free to point and laugh when you make a laughable inference
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#16
At least readers know "3. I think guns are capable of creating crime". FBI reports for 2010
jody
Jan 2013
#23
Fumesucker OP linked guns with hunting. True I and others do use handguns for hunting but that's a
jody
Jan 2013
#26
I know that violence including gun crime has been declining steadily for some time now
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#31
LOL those who want to ban all firearms attack those who want no bans and vice versa.
jody
Jan 2013
#84
Yes I know they create crime by making evil things possible, even glamorous in a sick way
MightyMopar
Jan 2013
#53
I've always said that if you want to impress with your hunting prowess,
Egalitarian Thug
Jan 2013
#46