Reply #40: Difference between 18th century English and 21st century English.

[Spider Jerusalem]

'Well regulated' means 'well-trained'. And it doesn't refer to the National Guard or anything of the sort; the historical background of the idea of a 'well-regulated militia' is the English Civil War, and the American Revolution; 'militia' means essentially anyone trained in the use of arms, and the purpose of these militias was to act as a counter to the imposition of tyranny by government. George Mason, "the father of the Bill of Rights", said "the militia is nothing less than the whole people"; the legal definition of the "unorganised militia" under US law includes all male citizens between the ages of seventeen and forty-five. Not to mention that the right to bear arms also derives from the English Bill of Rights, part of which states "all men have the right to bear arms according to their station".