Virginia Tech anniversary creates difficult moment on gun control for lawmakers

[Atypical Liberal]

37. If it didn't change the meaning why did you omit it?

"For all practical and legal purposes, you need to face the reality that the preambulatory phrase of the second amendment does not exist."

This is not "telling (you) that the Courts just struck down an entire phrase of the United States Constitution wholesale?"

This is telling you that for practical and legal purposes, the preambulatory phrase of the second amendment doesn't exist.

Practically, because the militias spoken of don't exist anymore. There are no militias necessary to the security of free states anymore.

Legally, because the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled, and the President of the United States agrees, that you don't have to belong to a militia to exercise your individual right to keep and bear arms.

You'll note, by the way, that during the debate of the second amendment while it was being framed an attempt was made to include "for the common defense" after "bear arms" and that was struck down.

Now if it makes you feel better to say that this means that the SC and the President have struck down part of the Constitution, hey, knock yourself out.

But that's not my opinion.

My opinion is the SC and the President understand what the militias were meant to do and what role the people were to fulfill in those militias, and they understand that those militias are gone. And they said, "The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative clause." In other words, the people are intended to keep and bear arms for militia service, but not just militia service, and the right doesn't go away if there is no militia to serve in.

They also said, "The Antifederalists feared that the Federal Government would disarm the people in order to disable this citizens’ militia, enabling a politicized standing army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear arms, so that the ideal of a citizens’ militia would be preserved." Emphasis mine. In other words, the ideal being upheld was for the people, through the militias, to be able to resist oppression by the federal government. Even though the militias are gone, in order to uphold that ideal, the rest of the amendment must still apply.

Perhaps you'll find some free time this weekend to answer my question about why the founders perpetuated a decentralized military? Although the Supreme Court already gave you the answer in the paragraph immediately above.