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."

I'm not going to go the traditional route on this, because the arguments over it get overplayed as it is. Instead I am going to focus on an aspect that I find interesting.

In the conflict between the Federalists who supported the ratification of the new Constitution and the Anti-Federalists who opposed it, a large concern was over individual rights. Given the tyranny of the British government, their concerns were reasonable, and the Bill of Rights is an important answer to those concerns.

What we frequently see though is that while people may have in mind that they need to protect against overreach from a government that wants to control them and take away their liberties, conflicts actually arise from individuals or groups trying to impose on the freedom of other individuals or groups, and the government becoming the protector, or failing to as the case may be.

When you have other countries who don't think this new republic can make it, a militia is necessary, though without proper regulation it can lead to more trouble. There could still be times when it is necessary to defend against an invading force.

It is more common for the enemy to come from within. Perhaps that is why it is so popular to frame different groups as outsiders, and not real citizens.

We have referred to regulation of gun sales as being allowable under the Commerce Clause. In addition, based on what the government talks about, there is no reason to believe that the intention is to completely halt all sales or to start seizing guns. Despite logic, there is enough paranoia about it that every mass shooting spikes an increase in gun purchases.

However, if the government, with the full power of the military, despite any indication of that desire and in spite of all the checks and balances in the Constitution actually starting seizing guns, these stockpiles would be very ineffective.

So perhaps it would be more valuable to focus on things that are happening, and devote some resources to that.