Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: The meaning of the Second Amendment (One Perspective) [View all]hansberrym
(1,571 posts)Your contention has been that the words "bear arms" is an idiom meaning "to serve in a martial role".
The alternate view given by the Heller majority is borne out when one takes into account the text of 2A reads "keep and bear arms".
Of course a militiaman would be compelled to carry arms in preparation for confrontation as that was certainly what militia duty entailed and what a CO would refuse to do. Mr Boudinot's comments are also in accord with the Heller court's interpretation: What justice can there be in compelling them to bear arms, when, according to their religious principles, they would rather die than use them?
The word "them" refers back to "arms" , meaning actual weapons, not "service in a martial role". Replacing "bear arms" with "service in a martial role" leaves "them" without anything to refer back to, so the idiom argument collapses.
I guess we shall resume the dead horse beating.