XPost: can.talk.guns, alt.guns, alt.rec.guns   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: Nope@noway.net   
      
   Leif wrote:   
   > On Sep 17, 3:03 pm, "RSweeney"  wrote:   
   >> "Leif"  wrote in message   
   >>> Leif speaking:  "The people" referred to in the 2nd Amendment was the   
   >>> well regulated  militia.  The militia of 1789 wasn't just a "resource   
   >>> pool."  It was an organized state entity, made up of men capable of   
   >>> bearing arms, enrolled in militia companies for training and service.   
   >> The people referred to in the entire bill of rights is the entire citizenry.   
   >>   
   >> Madison could just as easily had used the term "militia" and not people.   
   >> He didn't.   
   >   
   > Leif speaking:  The word "militia" appears in the Second Amendment.   
   > The word Madison didn't use but could have is "individuals."   
   >> The militia of 1789 was "the whole of the people" as George Mason and   
   >> Patrick Henry (and others) had written and debated.   
   >   
   > Leif speaking:  In 1789 military context, "the people" were those who   
   > were obligated to militia service under state law.  John Adams   
   > explains it:   
   >   
   >  "The militia comprehends the whole people. By virtue of the laws of   
   > the country, every male inhabitant between sixteen and sixty years of   
   > age, is enrolled in a company, and a regiment of militia completely   
   > organized with all its officers. He is enjoined to keep always in his   
   > house, and at his own expense, a firelock in good order, a powder   
   > horn, a pound of powder, twelve flints, four-and-twenty balls of lead,   
   > a cartridge box, and a knapsack; so that the whole country is ready to   
   > march for its own defence upon the first signal of alarm. These   
   > companies and regiments are obliged to assemble at certain times in   
   > every year, under the orders of their officers, for the inspection of   
   > their arms and ammunition, and to perform their exercises and   
   > manoeuvres." (Appendix to A Defence of the Constitutions of Government   
   > of the United States of America, John Adams, 1787)   
   >   
   >   
      
   Wrong there Leif; your cite doesn't support your assertion.   
      
   Your cite demonstrates the militia is the whole people [every one of   
   them] and only a subset [male, between sixteen and sixty] is required to   
   do certain things by law.   
      
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