General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Justice Stevens Scolds NRA & Suggests: The five extra words that can fix the Second Amendment [View all]krispos42
(49,445 posts)He's reflecting his fustration with the difference between what he wants the law to be and what it is. I'm going to assume he thinks either that private citizens shouldn't own guns, that it is a privilege not a right, or that he thinks that it is a right but that the firepower of guns available should be sharply curtailed. By "curtailed" I mean that only long guns are legal (rifles and shotguns), and that the types of operating systems and magazine limits should be sharply limited. Either no semi-auto guns, limiting people to bolt, pump, lever, muzzleloading, and break-open guns; or no repeating guns at all which would limit people to muzzleloading and break-open guns.
Military and law-enforcement personnel, as agents of a government, do not need either a permit nor a specific enumerated right to be armed when in service of a government. It's part of the special privileges bestowed up on them, along with arrest powers, using physical violence to subdue suspects, etc.
The government has a monopoly on the use of force, and its designated agents are the repositories of that monopoly. The various forces can decide specifically what kind of equipment its agents carry, but there is broad discretion.