Reply #144: If that were the case

[Columbia]

The 2nd would read "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the power of the state to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

But fortunately it does not read like that. People have RIGHTS. Governments have POWER. Governments do not have any kind of RIGHTS whatsover. The only reason Governments have POWER is because People give it to them. The Bill of Rights is a document of restrictions on government and enumerated protections of certain rights the Founders deemed to be vitally important. There is absolutely no way that the 2nd can be construed as giving a power to the states, to do so would fly in the face of documented history and reason.

See Amendments IX and X for explicit differences between people's rights and state powers:

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.