-=> On 10-27-97  06:44 Sean Ryan said to All <=-
 SR> There has been a lot of talk about the "right to bear arms" and such.
 SR> "You can't take my guns, I have a Constitutional right to it".  I find
 SR> it interesting that the Supreme Court has NEVER interpreted the Second
 SR> Amendment as an individual's right to own firearms.  It has ALWAYS
 SR> interpreted it as the right of a state to have a militia (National
 SR> Guard).
If your teachers told you that they were either lying or
incompetent.  Think about it.  Do you seriously think that "the
people" in the 2nd Amendment are different from "the people" in
all the other amendments or the main body of the Constitution?
To take that position would be legally, morally and
philosophically inconsistent.
As far as case law goes, you need to do some reading.  The
following is from the United States Senate Judiciary Committee
Report on the 2nd Amendment of 1992.
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The United States Supreme Court has only three times commented
upon the meaning of the second amendment to our constitution.
The first comment, in Dred Scott, indicated strongly that the
right to keep and bear arms was an individual right; the Court
noted that, were it to hold free blacks to be entitled to
equality of citizenship, they would be entitled to keep and carry
arms wherever they went.
The second, in Miller vs United States, indicated that a court
cannot take judicial notice that a short-barrelled shotgun is
covered by the second amendment--but the Court did not indicate
that National Guard status is in any way required for protection
by that amendment, and indeed defined "militia" to include all
citizens able to bear arms.
The third, a footnote in Lewis vs United States, indicated only
that "these legislative restrictions on the use of firearms"--a
ban on possession by felons--were permissible.
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In June 1997 Justice Clarence Thomas commented on the 2nd
Amendment in a concurring opinion written when the Supreme Court
found the Brady Bill unconstitutional.
       While the majority opinion was written by Justice Antonin
       Scalia, of particular note was a concurring opinion
       written by Justice Clarence Thomas.  In siding with the
       majority, Thomas noted that, along with the Tenth
       Amendment, "[t]he Second Amendment similarly appears to
       contain an express limitation on the government's
       authority," and that the "Federal Government's regulatory
       scheme...at least as it pertains to the possession of
       firearms, runs afoul of that amendment's protections."
Your teachers need to go back to school when it comes to
identifying the militia as well.  The militia is not, nor has it
ever been, limited to the National Guard.
United States Code, Title 10 Chapter 13: The Militia, Section
311: Militia Composition and Classes:
"(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied
     males at least 17 years of age and except as provided in
     section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or
     who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens
     of the United States and of female citizens of the United
     States who are commissioned officers of the National Guard.
(b)The classes of the militia are:
  (1) the organized militia, which consists of the members of the
     National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
  (2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
     the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the
     Naval Militia."
United States Code, Title 32, Section 313:
     adds as members of the militia those persons under the age
     of 64 who are former members of the Regular Armed Forces of
     the nation.                 
     
T.E. - San Diego
... Liberal Rule  #1 - When in doubt, tell a lie.
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