A lot of people believe that because automatic weapons didn't exist when our constitution was written, that our constitution does not protect our right to own automatic weapons. "Clearly," they say, "our forefathers could not have predicted this invention."
Of course these people believe that our forefathers were comparatively stupid, and were not already trying to invent guns that could fire multiple times or load themselves.
The evidence of this desire goes back to the 15th century (!) Italians as I recall, so by the 18th century it would have been well known among educated men.
So the fact that the authors of our law did not exclude such weapons tells me that they were unconcerned about them.
But aside from that fact, let's assume that our forefathers couldn't possibly have understood modern weapons.
What they did understand is the need for security.
In fact they use that exact word, so security was their primary concern here, and not the exact type of weapons available and used to ensure it.
Okay take a big breath and put on the tin foil hats.
I just read that over 50% of Americans believe that there are aliens in outer space. Now I don't believe that our forefathers necessarily expected such to exist, but they certainly would have been interested in ensuring our security against an invasion, had they believed.
Personally I don't think single-shot weapons, or bolt-action weapons, or low powered weapons would be an effective measure against Advanced cultures.
In any event our forefathers would have wanted us to have the best possible arms available against such an attack, right down to the Grassroots level.
Because there is a very good chance that such a culture could evade the detection or countermeasures of our official forces, our only chance for survival might be a well-armed populace.
Now you might imagine that these aliens, instead of coming from outer space, come from, say, Africa or Latin America. And their culture might be far less advanced than our own.
But even in such a lesser case of danger, I can't believe our forebears would have wanted us to have a lesser defense.
Of course these people believe that our forefathers were comparatively stupid, and were not already trying to invent guns that could fire multiple times or load themselves.
The evidence of this desire goes back to the 15th century (!) Italians as I recall, so by the 18th century it would have been well known among educated men.
So the fact that the authors of our law did not exclude such weapons tells me that they were unconcerned about them.
But aside from that fact, let's assume that our forefathers couldn't possibly have understood modern weapons.
What they did understand is the need for security.
In fact they use that exact word, so security was their primary concern here, and not the exact type of weapons available and used to ensure it.
Okay take a big breath and put on the tin foil hats.
I just read that over 50% of Americans believe that there are aliens in outer space. Now I don't believe that our forefathers necessarily expected such to exist, but they certainly would have been interested in ensuring our security against an invasion, had they believed.
Personally I don't think single-shot weapons, or bolt-action weapons, or low powered weapons would be an effective measure against Advanced cultures.
In any event our forefathers would have wanted us to have the best possible arms available against such an attack, right down to the Grassroots level.
Because there is a very good chance that such a culture could evade the detection or countermeasures of our official forces, our only chance for survival might be a well-armed populace.
Now you might imagine that these aliens, instead of coming from outer space, come from, say, Africa or Latin America. And their culture might be far less advanced than our own.
But even in such a lesser case of danger, I can't believe our forebears would have wanted us to have a lesser defense.
