Reply #213: Once again, dealing with fanatics.

[tortoise1956]

Full text of the second amendment:

"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."

Notice it says "people". These are the same "people" referred to in the first, fourth, ninth and tenth amendments, which are all recognized as covering individual rights. So how on God's green earth can you define "people" as referring to an individual right in four out of five amemdments, but not the one you don't like? The Bill of Rights is not designed to please everyone, but to define and protect the natural rights of all Americans.

BTW, the individual rights view is one that is supported by some pretty competent jurists. Lawrence Tribe, Sanford Levinson, and Nat Hentoff- none of which, by the way, are "gun nuts"-have all stated that the second amendment describes an individual right.

For a link to possibly the most cogent paper I have ever read on RKBA, try this link:

http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/embar.html

OK, your turn-got any more specious arguments I need to refute?

UPDATE: I Edited this post in several places for better clarity-I must be more tired than I realized. time to go beddy bye-5:30 comes soon.

ANOTHER UPATE: The link above does not state with certainty that the second amendment is an individual right. It does, however, suggest that the arguments against an individual right lack a strong base. Sorry about misrepresenting the article.