Reply #36: It says it poorly

[Jack Rabbit]

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

I can read that as one has the right to join the national guard (state militia) and bear arms. If that part about the militia were not there, it would be one simple sentence (The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed) and I would read that as an individual right. If that is what it was meant to confer, why even mention the militia? An individual would have the right to possess a firearm regardless of his membership in the militia.

On the other hand, one would like to ask our Founding Fathers what is meant by these words. The first part of the sentence is certainly not an independent clause (there is no verb) and it isn't really a dependent clause (there is no preposition). It's just a sentence fragment. But they had some meaning for putting it there. What it means is not entirely clear. It's George W. Bush grammar.