[Sonart]

.

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Actually, no. "Well regulated", in 1787, and in this context, meant basically "in proper working order".

We know exactly what "well-regulated Militia" means because it's defined in the Constitution itself, and it means considerably more than simply "in proper working order".

Article I Section 8 -- "Congress shall have the power to...

15: To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

16: 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;"

Regarding someone's contention that the Army and the Militia are one and the same, I'm afraid not...

Article II, Section 2 -- "The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States."

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Yes, this is common knowledge. We have a lot of murder here. But what has that got to do with gun ownership? You haven't demonstrated any kind of causal link.

It's not simply gun ownership, Morgan, but the whole sense of entitlement regarding guns and the American mythos surrounding guns; that America was created with guns and solving problems with guns is an American tradition, that "Good Guys" are always handy with a gun (and, of course, everyone thinks they're the good guy) and "Real Men" rely on guns to solve problems.

All of which may have shared a spark of truth when a sparsely populated, rural, agricultural America was mostly a vast frontier to be tamed. But the frontiers and wilderness are long gone, and America is now mostly an urban/suburban jungle of 300 million souls who are too crowded, too hectic and too angry to be armed to the teeth.

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Read it again:

I give... what am I missing. The security of our free state has been in the capable hands of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and National Guard for some time now, and for all of Washington's, Hamilton's and Jefferson's fears, they have yet to prove a threat to our civilian government. State Militias are basically non-existant, and those that do exist certainly don't fit the constitutional definition of "Well Regulated".

Quote by: Morgan Freeman "A free State". That's what it says. Militias are necessary to maintain a FREE state. This means that the people must be armed and ready to safeguard their freedoms from foreign invasion OR domestic tyranny.

That's entirely YOUR definition, Morgan, and while it's creative and all, it has no bearing on Constitutionality. To the Contrary, the Case Law that I've cited as the standing precedent make quite clear what the qualifying clause means.

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Dirty Harry? What decade are you living in? You forgot Tupac, P. Diddy, etc.

Fine, have it your way... all lovely examples of the wacked out gun culture America has become.

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Um, seeing as the majority of those prisoners are nonviolent drug users/distributers, it shouldn't be too hard.

An urban myth based on the mis-use of statistics, Morgan. The majority (60%) of FEDERAL prisoners are drug related, but Federal prisons make up only about 10% of the combined state prison population, of which only about 20% are drug related.

You didn't read my memo, did you?

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Especially when people are defenseless against them.

And yet in modern, democratic countries with strict gun control, people are vastly safer. So apparently, even with our own guns, we're less defensible with the country awash in guns.

Quote by: Morgan Freeman I, for one, would not be opposed to a proficiency test required for carrying a firearm in public.

I own a firearm. What I'd like is for people to see owning a gun as a privilege which they must earn and need to take responsibility for, rather than some sort of gawd-given entitlement.

As it is, you folks seem to accept America's gun-addled violent nature as just the price we have to pay so that those of you who want to can enjoy owning guns. I'm sorry, but that's just sick.

Quote by: Morgan Freeman Wow. So its no longer necessary for us to safeguard our freedoms?

We have the U.S. military, the most powerful force the world has ever know protecting our shores, and those forces authorized by the voters protecting the rest

Quote by: Morgan Freeman We should just let the government take care of that for us? When did this change come about, I wonder.

You're not getting it... we're doing a horrible job of taking care of ourselves with all the available guns. We need to change how we think about.

And if you're thinking of guns as the best defense against our own government... sorry, the U.S. military would crush any armed insurrection that sought to over-throw our government.

.