So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

I suspect that those numbers and the current numbers are fairly close as a percentage of the population.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

I believe yes, recently, after some holding in another circuit. all the crim. defendants challenged it as a sentencing issue or something.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

My point is that you need not be an active militia member in order to exercise the right. You only need be available.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

You seem to think the contours of the "right" are self-evident, while I think -- according to the actual language of the amendment -- that it has something to do with militia service.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

OK, the word is "arm." Does that refer to an upper-body limb? A flintlock rifle? Whatever Webster wants it to?

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

Actually, I think it is. Remember, rights have concomitant obligations, so people should expect to get their induction notices soon.

I like this idea the more I think about it. With the millions of NRA members and other licensed gun owners added to service, we can instantly solve the personnel shortages in Iraq, and have ample army forces with which to threaten Iran AND North Korea, AND any other piss-ant country that decides they want to fuck with us!*

I will miss Bilmore and his pre-pubescent band of vigilantes, though. [sniff]

Gattigap

* The resulting, rather drastic shortages of equipment and materiel will be disappointing, of course, but as the Bush Administration tells us, you go to war with the Army you have. It is indeed a soothing thought.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

Which words on the page say that?

Penumbra
 

Since when do the actual words matter?

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

It doesn't make sense any other way. The people need the right to form an armed militia in order to defend their rights. What good is it to only allow militia members to bear arms? What happens if you need additional members andl, because of the circumstances requiring the militias, there are no guns to be found?

If they only wouldn't have left out the defined terms section, this would all be much clearer.

Penumbra
 

For club, at least since 12 minutes ago, and probably earlier.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

"the right of the people to keep and bear Arms." Not the right of those people that are members of the militia.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

It makes plenty of sense unless you have been immersed in NRA propaganda for too long. A "well-regulated" militia isn't just a gathering of a bunch of angry libertarians. It's "regulated" by the state. This, in fact, is what happened in colonial times, and examples of such state laws are collected in the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Miller, which rejected the sort of argument you are making. If "you need additional members" and they join up, they then have a right to arms. If there are no guns to be found, someone had better appropriate some money, or go ask France for help until the British burn down Washington D.C. and leave.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

1. I've never read any NRA propaganda.

2. I don't own a gun. I've never shot a gun.

3. Courts are wrong sometimes.

ETA: I'm sure the Miller case covers it, but does the application of the 2nd amendment to the States jive with this? If the militias are regulated by the states, how do the states regulate militias and at the same time not infringe the right to bear arms?

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

OK.

Your loss. I have, and it's fun. I recommend it.

Well, my point is that there were plenty of state laws regulating the militias that you seem to think were the colonial equivalents of flashmobs, or whatever, and I was trying to tell you that the Miller decision is a fine place to go to find out more about this. That the Supreme Court agreed with me on the law is just gravy.

So There are Just 9 Amendments in the Bill of Rights?
 

He may not have read primary-source NRA propaganda, but I think reading it regurgitated in secondary and tertiary and so on sources counts.