g5000
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2011
- 127,053
- 70,795
- 2,605
Wingnuts keep saying the Second Amendment is to keep the government in check.
Where is this written in the Constitution?
Whenever someone says, "Show me where X is in the Constitution", they are speaking from ignorance. Whether it is about gay marriage or automobiles or guns.
There is a whole body of evidence as to the intents behind the words in the Constitution, as well as an even larger body of legal precedents which flesh out those words.
One which specifically addresses your question can be found in the Federalist Papers written by the men who knew better than any of us what the intentions behind the second amendment were. This one in particular was written by James Madison, my favorite of the Publius triad:
Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it.
The Avalon Project : Federalist No 46
Last edited: