Friday, April 25, 2014

The 2nd Amendment and the Efficiency of Militia Act of 1903


This blog is a bit of a look at facets of the gun law situation in the US, if you're an out of country viewer (I'm talking to you, guy/gal who is giving us views in Germany!), I hope you find it interesting anyhow.

The language of the Second Amendment of course states that (my paraphrase)...

..."Since a well regulated militia is necessary, people shall have the right to keep and bear arms, without infringement." Now, a couple things right off the bat, if you understand the language and meanings of the time, you can come to a fair assumption that "well regulated" does not mean that the individuals need regulation, but in fact means that a militia needs to be proficient or well trained in the ways of battle.

However, an argument that is at times brought up (though it does not seem as prevalent as it once was) is that the 2A only ensures your right to keep and bear arms if you are a member of the militia, aka the National Guard. One of the things that the "Dick" Bill, as it is known after one of the bill's primary sponsors, does, is it establishes what the "Militia" is. This is a quote from the actual scans of the original, paper Dick Bill text which can be found here "...the militia shall consist of every able bodied male... who is more than eighteen and less than forty-five years of age..." Now, it goes on to describe that the militia is broken into 2 classes, the "organized" militia of the state National Guard units, and the unorganized or reserve militia of every other able-bodied and age-eligible male in the United States. How about dem apples? The clear indication of the distinctions given, is that EVERYONE is considered to be a part of the militia.

Now, there is much more to the Dick bill, and there have been amendments to it, but almost everything else about it has to do with the National Guard in particular. Just an interesting tidbit, if you want to read a revised-for-modern-consumption version of the "Dick" Bill with the comments removed, feel free to view that page here. For the sake of complete transparency, I just heard about this today, and have yet to read the entirety of the original scans, but at least the distinction of unorganized militia from National Guard seems fairly clear.

Just a little more ammunition to put into your brain bank : ] Don't forget to check out our Youtube channel and subscribe!

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