Letter: You want a gun, join a well-regulated militia

[Tab]

The slaughter of innocents in Newtown, Conn., has country in an uproar over gun control, as it should.

Following the recent presidential election, gun sales/background checks for November hit a record high. For those who fall into this category of "gotta have a gun," who is it exactly you intend to defend yourself against and may not think twice about shooting?

To those who fall back on the Second Amendment, let's get something straight: The second part of the 1791 one-sentence amendment reads: "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed;" however, everyone conveniently forgets the first half of the sentence, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state." For all those who feel they must have semiautomatic weapons and guns with large magazines, I propose that we tie their ownership to being in a militia, which I think today could be construed as a state's National Guard. This would ensure these gun owners have adequate training; it would bolster national security; and their fellow guards would be on the lookout for people who shouldn't have guns in the first place.

SANDER BONVELL

Voorheesville

http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Letter-You-want-a-gun-join-a-well-regulated-4139824.php

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. Yea, well tell that to career criminals who engage in home invasions.

You get them to sign up to be members of "a well-regulated militia," and maybe others will join as well.

[PointZeroZeroOne]

2. Are you saying that we have the NG finance Delicate Flower's gun fetishes?

Or they have to bring their own sick toys to play with when they enlist?

[iemitsu]

3. I think your suggestion is a good one

as long as "the militia" is the National Guard or some other state regulated militia but not just any "well regulated militia".
I also think that those who join such militia ought to be the nations "first defenders" since they are the ones who practice for and anticipate having to use arms to defend themselves and their communities. The regular branches of the military ought to be drastically reduced to a corp of advisers and officials who, in the event of a need to send troops overseas, could mobilize the National Guard for these purposes.

[jody]

4. All males 17-45 are already in the militia, organized or unorganized. If the

unorganized militia is not well-regulated, then blame it on Congress because that's their job under our Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clauses 15 & 16.

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

[kestrel91316]

5. Where does the Constitution specify that all males 17-45 are in the militia?

I'll be waiting for your link to the actual quote in the US Constitution.

If this is the case, then males over 45 and females are NOT in the militia and have no gun rights.

[jody]

6. 10 USC § 311 - Militia: composition and classes link below

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/search/display.html?terms=militia&url=/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00000311----000-.html

One state includes all people 18-64 in its militia to be fair to women.

[jody]

7. Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.

That's what SCOTUS said in DC v Heller and McDonald v Chicago.

[Aristus]

8. That's how they do it in Switzerland.

In Switzerland, one is permitted to keep even fully automatic weapons, along with ammunition, in one's home. BUT, enlistment in the country's citizen reserve is mandatory for this to happen. One must undergo regular training and re-training in the use of these weapons, you can't take them hunting, and at least in the past, one had to prove one's dedication to Swiss national security by jumping over a row of rifles with fixed bayonets.

Let's see your average beer-bellied, drunken NRA guntard do something like that...