So, if they allow individuals to have only one weapon, then people can clearly have arms. (the issue of whether the feds have the power to limit isn't necessary to bring up here). The feds have to allow for there to be a market in arms, but they don't have to allow fully automatic weapons, for example, because people can still be armed with modern weaponry without having those.
So, the line is flexible as to what individuals can and cannot own.
I disagree. I read the intent to be to own the technology of the day that a light infantry would and should own and use. I don't see how a reasonable person would read a number of arms limitation into it.
Well it's not what light infantry would have. It was always the weapons that citizens carried around in their normal daily life.
I didn't say there was a limitation on the number of arms. I said what the Amendment means, which is that the feds can't prevent individuals from having arms. If you have a handgun, have I prevented you from having arms? No, I have not. If I prevent you having two guns, am I preventing you from having arms? No, I'm not.
There was no wiggle room for the federal govenment to set any limit. The word "infringe" had a different meaning in the 18th century. One thing to note is the Bill of Rights were not viewed as actual amendments. Madison's first submission was to have the Bill of Rights inserted directly into the body of the articles. This was rejected. That would have subjected the Bill of Rights to the Article V amendment process. That is why the Bill of Rights are in the order they are and why they are not under the purview of any of the three branches of the federal government.
Infringe meant something different in the 18th Century? Really? Like what? Like eat potatoes?
A Table Alphabeticall of Hard Usual English Words (R. Cawdrey, 1604)
I have this from the 1604.
"
infringe, to breake, to make weake, or feeble. "
I doubt that's it.
A dictionary of the English language. Abstracted from the folio ed., by the author. To which is prefixed, an English grammar. To this ed. are added, a history of the English language [&c.].
I have this from Johnson's Dictionary
"To INFRINGE. v. a. [infringo, Lat] 1. To violate ; to break laws or contracts. Waller. 2. To destroy : to hinder. Waller."
I mean, this was from 1768, only 20 years before they'd be debating this amendment that was put forward, and it doesn't seem to mean that either. And it didn't change in the next dictionary
A Dictionary of the English Language
That's from 1828.
The order of the Amendments is neither here nor there.