XPost: can.talk.guns, alt.guns, alt.rec.guns   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: me4guns@verizon.removeme.this2.nospam.net   
      
   "Leif"  wrote in message   
   news:1190262587.250149.104610@t8g2000prg.googlegroups.com...   
   > On Sep 18, 10:23 am, Magus  wrote:   
   >> 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.- Hide quoted text -   
   >>   
   >> - Show quoted text -   
   >   
   > Leif speaking:  What Adams meant by "The militia comprehends the whole   
   > people" obviously was that all classes in the society were required to   
   > serve in the militia.   
      
   Please indicate which definition of comprise matches your claim of Adam's   
   usage.   
      
   Comprise   
   1 : to include especially within a particular scope    
   2 : to be made up of    
   3 : COMPOSE, CONSTITUTE     
      
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