What firearms are protected by the 2nd Amendment

[M14 Shooter]

Given the purpose of the 2nd Amendment – to ensure that the people would always have access to an effective means of exercising their right to self defense, individually and/or collectively - what kinds of firearms does the 2nd Amendment protect?

Handguns: Revolvers, single shot
Handguns: Magazine-fed semi-autos
Shotguns: Pump/lever/bolt action, single shot, double barreled
Shotguns: Semi-auto
Rifles..: Bolt/lever/slide action, single shot
Rifles..: Magazine-fed semi-auto, ‘assault weapons’
Rifles..: Automatic rifles, assault rifles, battle rifles
Rifles..: Magazine/belt fed machineguns
All of the above
None of the above

Please be sure to explain your response.

 

[Skull Pilot]

The second amendment does not specify a type of arms.

You Should Have a Gun « Verbellum

You should have a gun. You really should.

Politicians and news personalities and other talking heads will often tell you that you shouldn’t have a gun. They’ll tell you that guns don’t need to be useful beyond the narrow scope of hunting and personal defense. They’ll tell you that the Second Amendment must have limits so that criminals and maniacs and terrorists can’t have high-capacity magazines and machine guns.

But hunting and self-defense are two secondary reasons why the government isn’t permitted to infringe on your right, as an American citizen, to bear arms. In fact, let’s review the exact text of the Second Amendment right now:

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.

It doesn’t say anything about hunting. It doesn’t say anything about personal defense either. It contains two major parts: a justification of the right, and an unqualified declaration of the right.

The justification explains that the importance of this right is that it allows for local, organized defense (though nowhere does it restrict the right to this purpose). It is not referring to the National Guard of each state. It is referring to civilians maintaining the ability to organize themselves into effective military units if the need should arise.

The declaration does not specify what kind of arms, nor does it provide any room for exception to the rule. The word infringe does not include any connotation of flexibility. It means, “to encroach upon,” with its origins in a Latin word meaning “to damage, break off.” Any baby-step in the direction of restricting possession and carrying of arms of any kind is an infringement of the right.

It is not an oversight that the amendment was written this way. The founders of the United States were rebels and revolutionaries. Access to weapons is what allowed them to defend their country from the theft and oppression of George III.

It’s important to note here that monarchy was a very long-standing form of government as of the late 18th century. The founders were educated people who were facing massive disillusionment with a system that had been in place from time immemorial. The Second Amendment is a recognition that even the most trusted, powerful institutions around us can turn out be destructive elements that need to be stood down. They knew it could happen even in this well-considered arrangement they had created themselves.

That is why the people of the United States have a right—second only to free speech, free religion, free assembly, and redress of grievances—to own and to carry weapons of their choosing, with no limits. Everything from slingshots to missiles to laser rifles is forbidden to the government to restrict. And that right exists primarily so that we may defend ourselves against the government if it becomes necessary, with the same level of force that the government can employ.

Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the past few decades, there’s no way you could not have noticed the government’s complete lack of impunity in its actions. There’s no way you could not have noticed that, year after year, it looks a lot more like a permanent ruling class than any kind of democracy. There’s no way you could not have noticed that something has gone awry with the founders’ great experiment.

Governments cannot be trusted to correct themselves once they’ve gone bad. Human history does not contain many examples of that. Governing bodies exist to last indefinitely, so that’s what they do—preserve the structure of rule. Sometimes, when they’re acting badly enough, that preservation can take some really ugly forms. It can kill and destroy with an unimaginable ferocity. Human history is filled with examples of this.

Unarmed citizens command no authority and present potential government thugs no deterrent to abuse. Armed citizens represent a power to be reckoned with; any large-scale assault upon them risks running into effective resistance.

No one is saying you should keep an automatic rifle loaded under your bed, ready and waiting to be brought into battle. There’s no call to attack the government. There’s no need to join a militia if you don’t want to.

But you should have a gun, and you should learn to use, store, and maintain it properly. You should assert and protect your and your fellow citizens’ right to keep and bear arms. And you should never forget why.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Common sense dictates that Skull Pilot does not get a guided missile frigate, mdn2000 does not get a gunship, uncensored 2008 does not a tank, and bigreb does not get a sling shot.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Common sense dictates that Skull Pilot does not get a guided missile frigate, mdn2000 does not get a gunship, uncensored 2008 does not a tank, and bigreb does not get a sling shot.

I am exactly the person you want to be armed because I would only use arms in defense of my or my wife's life.

 

[Mini 14]

All of those listed are currently protected by the 2nd, and any citizen who is approved on the 4473, and holds proper license in the jurisdiction where he resides, can purchase, possess, and use all of those firearms whenever and wherever allowed by applicable law.

I occasionally go out with a buddy of mine who holds a Class III (I have deliberated it before, but really have no desire to obtain a Class III, even though I am already on file with the FBI). Our deal is I buy the ammo, he brings the guns.

At about $6/second (for the S&W 45), it gets old faster than you'd think

 

[Sheldon]

I would like to hunt an elephant with a .50 cal just once in my life. That would be intense. It could be an elephant who has some type of fatal disease or something, I would feel guilty thinning the herb by taking a fertile healthy adult from the population.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Common sense dictates that Skull Pilot does not get a guided missile frigate, mdn2000 does not get a gunship, uncensored 2008 does not a tank, and bigreb does not get a sling shot.

But Jake Starkey DOES get an injection of Thorazine....

 

[grunt11b]

Given the purpose of the 2nd Amendment – to ensure that the people would always have access to an effective means of exercising their right to self defense, individually and/or collectively - what kinds of firearms does the 2nd Amendment protect?

Handguns: Revolvers, single shot
Handguns: Magazine-fed semi-autos
Shotguns: Pump/lever/bolt action, single shot, double barreled
Shotguns: Semi-auto
Rifles..: Bolt/lever/slide action, single shot
Rifles..: Magazine-fed semi-auto, ‘assault weapons’
Rifles..: Automatic rifles, assault rifles, battle rifles
Rifles..: Magazine/belt fed machineguns
All of the above
None of the above

Please be sure to explain your response.

Here is my explanation:

"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."

If it takes more then that, you must be a communist, or an Obama supporter, they are both the same thing so who is really counting right?

 

[RadiomanATL]

*shrug*

The second doesn't specify what kind of arms.

I'm fine with a lot of stuff, but I draw the line at anything that has to take a ballistic trajectory or fires ammunition that is meant to explode. In other words, no howitzers or bazookas. Sorry guys.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Sheldon, I am not being smart ass when I ask "why?" I really don't understand. I took varmint, turkey, chicken snatchers, a couple of deer, any hog stupid enough to get where I could see it out there, and then I spent nearly 12 years active duty. None of it moves me now, other than fishing. Now fishing still is awesome!

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon, I am not being smart ass when I ask "why?" I really don't understand. I took varmint, turkey, chicken snatchers, a couple of deer, any hog stupid enough to get where I could see it out there, and then I spent nearly 12 years active duty. None of it moves me now, other than fishing. Now fishing still is awesome!

I'm not really sure--but just having one big-game hunt in Africa seems like it would be a fun life experience, for me anyways. Maybe because I read Hemingway growing up.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Common sense dictates that Skull Pilot does not get a guided missile frigate, mdn2000 does not get a gunship, uncensored 2008 does not a tank, and bigreb does not get a sling shot.

But Jake Starkey DOES get an injection of Thorazine....

Hi, uncensored, still wandering around from the last injection? You were the coyote walking up to the animal control officer as you were rubbing your shoulder vigorously, and said, "Hey man, remember me. You shot me with a tranquilizer dart last week. Got any more? I need a fix bad, man."

 

[The T]

Common sense dictates that Skull Pilot does not get a guided missile frigate, mdn2000 does not get a gunship, uncensored 2008 does not a tank, and bigreb does not get a sling shot.

Another strawman and obfuscation courtesy of Jokey Fakey, and a total disregard for the Second Amendment.

Congrats

 

[Uncensored2008]

*shrug*

The second doesn't specify what kind of arms.

I'm fine with a lot of stuff, but I draw the line at anything that has to take a ballistic trajectory or fires ammunition that is meant to explode. In other words, no howitzers or bazookas. Sorry guys.

I have to calculate the trajectory on a 300 yard .30-06 shot. It doesn't fly in a straight line at those distances.

 

[RadiomanATL]

*shrug*

The second doesn't specify what kind of arms.

I'm fine with a lot of stuff, but I draw the line at anything that has to take a ballistic trajectory or fires ammunition that is meant to explode. In other words, no howitzers or bazookas. Sorry guys.

I have to calculate the trajectory on a 300 yard .30-06 shot. It doesn't fly in a straight line at those distances.

You know what I mean though.

 

[grunt11b]

*shrug*

The second doesn't specify what kind of arms.

I'm fine with a lot of stuff, but I draw the line at anything that has to take a ballistic trajectory or fires ammunition that is meant to explode. In other words, no howitzers or bazookas. Sorry guys.

And anyone with common sense knows it would not cover those things. Of course those on the left would like you to believe that a 30-30 deer rifle is the same thing as a nuclear bomb though when it comes to why they would like to restrict firearms, but that is neither here nor there.

 

[Ringel05]

I always thought owning a fully armed, fully functional Soviet boomer would be kinda cool.
Then I could switch my avi to Nemo.

 

[zzzz]

Seems to me the right to bear arms are already being infringed on as bearing arms means to carry around with you. The way the laws are now it is a privaledge not a right to bear arms such as pistols and try to carry a shotgun down a street in New York!

Here we get into the living constitution thing. Some think that it ought to be the same as 1700's, in that case the only arms they had was muzzle loaders and single shots. Therefore that is it, no automatics or revolvers and such.

My viewpoint is that a person should be able to posess and carry handguns, rifles and shotguns. Automatic weapons, grenades, missiles and other war items are not neccassary and the 2nd does not state the reason for an individual's right as it does for the militia.

 

[grunt11b]

*shrug*

The second doesn't specify what kind of arms.

I'm fine with a lot of stuff, but I draw the line at anything that has to take a ballistic trajectory or fires ammunition that is meant to explode. In other words, no howitzers or bazookas. Sorry guys.

I have to calculate the trajectory on a 300 yard .30-06 shot. It doesn't fly in a straight line at those distances.

You know what I mean though.

Not really, any firearm out there has a trajectory.

 

[grunt11b]

Seems to me the right to bear arms are already being infringed on as bearing arms means to carry around with you. The way the laws are now it is a privaledge not a right to bear arms such as pistols and try to carry a shotgun down a street in New York!

Here we get into the living constitution thing. Some think that it ought to be the same as 1700's, in that case the only arms they had was muzzle loaders and single shots. Therefore that is it, no automatics or revolvers and such.

My viewpoint is that a person should be able to posess and carry handguns, rifles and shotguns. Automatic weapons, grenades, missiles and other war items are not neccassary and the 2nd does not state the reason for an individual's right as it does for the militia.

Are the items you mentioned considered arms? If so..... then they are covered.