Proponents of gun control have long pointed to the Second Amendment’s prefatory clause — “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State” — as a necessary prelude to its operative clause, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Meanwhile, opponents point to the operative clause only to justify anyone’s right to purchase firearms willy-nilly as a Second Amendment right.
As former Marine and candidate for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes points out, there is more context in the Constitution for that well-regulated militia, to wit: “Congress shall have the power to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union; suppress insurrections and repel invasions” and furthermore “to provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the Militia.”
To repeat: It is Congress that calls up the militia, organizes them, arms them (you don’t arm yourself), disciplines them, and sends them to execute the laws, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.
The Constitution does not permit you to buy your own gun, arm yourself without training, and/or call yourself a militia.
Doug Wertz
Everett
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