Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: In your opinion, what is the Second Amendment? n/t [View all]Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)The federal government in the "militia clause" is stating one of the reasons why this broad individual right should not be infringed; it depends on the right to exercise its militia powers described in Article 1. Could the framers left out the clause? Yes, but it was put in due to apparent political compromise with those fearing a standing army. These people wanted the militia powers up front in the Second, but not a conditioner of the individual RKBA. Most constitutional experts believe the Second is a guarantor of the individual RKBA.
If the clause was somehow construed to mean only a right attendant to formation of a militia, it would be completely at odds with the whole premise of the Bill of Rights. Then you would have a "right" which is hugely infringed, and a "right" occuring to an agency or community.