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On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:53:16 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> specifically and explicitly to that "well regulated militia".
>
> Definition of militia:
>
> 2) the entire body of physically fit civilians eligible by law for
> military service
That definition came around circa 1890, according to the OED.
A more telling definition is one that was in common usage when the bill
of rights was created in 1789:
3. b. [...] a branch or department of the establishment maintained for
purposes of war.
Or perhaps an earlier definition:
1. a. A system of military discipline, organization, and tactics; manner
of conducting warfare; the arts of war.
In 1776, Adam Smith wrote:
"It [the state] may..oblige either all the citizens of the military age,
or a certain number of them to join in some measure the trade of a
soldier to whatever other trade or profession they may happen to carry
on. Its military force is (then) said to consist in a militia."
While not a definition per se, the connotation here is that a militia is
a military force made up of citizens who are part-time members of the
military.
How many actual gun owners are members of, say, the national guard? Less
than 100% I'd wager.
Then there's the "well-regulated" part of that phrase in the bill of
rights. Someone who goes to the local gun shop and purchases a S&W .38
handgun to go target shooting on the weekends (or for self defense) isn't
part of a "well-regulated militia". They're an individual citizen
purchasing a handgun for personal reasons.
Jim
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