Sybalsky.pa@XEROX.COM (10/10/86)
|Steve Walton: but such a militia would not be "well regulated" unless |licenses or bonds for weapons ownership were required... One would do well to go back and find out what "well regulated" means in this context. There is evidence (ref below) that "well regulated" merely means well-functioning, and explicitly also means NOT UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL. One should also consider that a variety of "right[s] of the people" are mentioned in other amendments, and THEY are always interpreted as meaning rights of individuals. For references to these issues, check Stephen Halbrook's book "That Every Man Be Armed", put out by the Univ of NM press. It's a thorough exploration of the genesis of the second amendment and the meanings of the words used in it. --John -------