Reply #58: Sorry

[MrBenchley]

You can parse it upstairs and down, but there's no way on earth "people" or "militia" cannot be a collective term. Remember, the first three words of the Constitution are "We the people" not "Me the people" or "Every individual one of us..."

"That would lead to a reading of the 2nd amendment in which the state, i.e. the "people" as it is formally organized, in an expression of its right to self-determination -- its intent to remain secure as a free state -- creates the conditions by which that goal can be met: at that time, a well-regulated militia was an essential such condition, and required that individuals have access to arms."
And in fact, the well regulated militia has existed since Colonial times AND provided its members with publicly-purchased collective arms.