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"Common sense gun control" is an oxymoron. What part of "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" is too complicated to understand?
What part of “you’re cherry-picking the 2nd” is too complicated?
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But it’s irrelevant, same thing applies to extra steps, longer waiting periods etc.
When you target a particular weapon or type of weapon for increased regulation, another will take it’s place as the go to weapon of choice for those who wish to do harm to others.
Two revolvers and a few speed loaders can be equally devastating in a closed environment like a school classroom.
And if someone is bent on shooting a bunch of people, making them wait another week isn’t going to change their plans.
How do you know?
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What part of “you’re cherry-picking the 2nd” is too complicated?
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "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 original stated nothing about the mentally ill, or convicted felons. At the time it was written the Militia was to be made up of any and every able bodied person. It was to be expected that the people in the Militia would come to the aid of the state/civilization. And to do so it was expected that they people who respond would be bring their own weapons.
Since then the Supreme Court has indicated that convicted felons, and the mentally issue are allowed to be barred from owning a gun. But those added conditions along with other laws were not part of the original 2nd amendment.
Also at the time it was written, Well Regulated did not mean regulation as in legal terms and or legal conditions, it meant in good working order. So for a Militia to we in good working order, the people should be well versed in the use of their own arms.
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "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 original stated nothing about the mentally ill, or convicted felons. At the time it was written the Militia was to be made up of any and every able bodied person. It was to be expected that the people in the Militia would come to the aid of the state/civilization. And to do so it was expected that they people who respond would be bring their own weapons.
Since then the Supreme Court has indicated that convicted felons, and the mentally issue are allowed to be barred from owning a gun. But those added conditions along with other laws were not part of the original 2nd amendment.
Also at the time it was written, Well Regulated did not mean regulation as in legal terms and or legal conditions, it meant in good working order. So for a Militia to we in good working order, the people should be well versed in the use of their own arms.
Definition of Militia from the turn of the 19th Century.
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REG'ULATED, participle passive Adjusted by rule, method or forms; put in good order; subjected to rules or restrictions.
MILI'TIA, noun [Latin from miles, a soldier; Gr. war, to fight, combat, contention. The primary sense of fighting is to strive, struggle, drive, or to strike, to beat, Eng. moil, Latin molior; Heb. to labor or toil.] The body of soldiers in a state enrolled for discipline, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies; as distinguished from regular troops, whose sole occupation is war or military service. The militia of a country are the able bodied men organized into companies, regiments and brigades, with officers of all grades, and required by law to attend military exercises on certain days only, but at other times left to pursue their usual occupations.
Noah Webster's Dictionary of the English Language.
I suspect it did not change in the few decades prior
You might want to read up on the Militia act of 1792.
Definition of Militia from the turn of the 19th Century.
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REG'ULATED, participle passive Adjusted by rule, method or forms; put in good order; subjected to rules or restrictions.
MILI'TIA, noun [Latin from miles, a soldier; Gr. war, to fight, combat, contention. The primary sense of fighting is to strive, struggle, drive, or to strike, to beat, Eng. moil, Latin molior; Heb. to labor or toil.] The body of soldiers in a state enrolled for discipline, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies; as distinguished from regular troops, whose sole occupation is war or military service. The militia of a country are the able bodied men organized into companies, regiments and brigades, with officers of all grades, and required by law to attend military exercises on certain days only, but at other times left to pursue their usual occupations.
Noah Webster's Dictionary of the English Language.
I suspect it did not change in the few decades prior
You might want to read up on the Militia act of 1792.
And if you were to follow up with the Supreme Court ruling's, even the 2008 Heller VS DC decision, you will see all through out the decision, that Well Regulated Militia was to be made of all of the people, and it was in good working order.
I also indicated in my post at the time the 2nd amendment was written. And not that is has been defined since.
Definition of Militia from the turn of the 19th Century.
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REG'ULATED, participle passive Adjusted by rule, method or forms; put in good order; subjected to rules or restrictions.
MILI'TIA, noun [Latin from miles, a soldier; Gr. war, to fight, combat, contention. The primary sense of fighting is to strive, struggle, drive, or to strike, to beat, Eng. moil, Latin molior; Heb. to labor or toil.] The body of soldiers in a state enrolled for discipline, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies; as distinguished from regular troops, whose sole occupation is war or military service. The militia of a country are the able bodied men organized into companies, regiments and brigades, with officers of all grades, and required by law to attend military exercises on certain days only, but at other times left to pursue their usual occupations.
Noah Webster's Dictionary of the English Language.
I suspect it did not change in the few decades prior
You might want to read up on the Militia act of 1792.
You mean the act that REQUIRED all able bodied men between 18 and 45 to own firearms and ammunition?
Also, some reading for you on "well regulated".
We can begin to deduce what well-regulated meant from Alexander Hamilton's words in Federalist Paper No. 29:
The project of disciplining all the militia of the United States is as futile as it would be injurious if it were capable of being carried into execution. A tolerable expertness in military movements is a business that requires time and practice. It is not a day, nor a week nor even a month, that will suffice for the attainment of it. To oblige the great body of the yeomanry and of the other classes of the citizens to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people and a serious public inconvenience and loss.
--- The Federalist Papers, No. 29.
Hamilton indicates a well-regulated militia is a state of preparedness obtained after rigorous and persistent training. Note the use of 'disciplining' which indicates discipline could be synonymous with well-trained.
This quote from the Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 also conveys the meaning of well regulated:
Resolved , That this appointment be conferred on experienced and vigilant general officers, who are acquainted with whatever relates to the general economy, manoeuvres and discipline of a well regulated army.
--- Saturday, December 13, 1777.
In the passage that follows, do you think the U.S. government was concerned because the Creek Indians' tribal regulations were superior to those of the Wabash or was it because they represented a better trained and disciplined fighting force?
That the strength of the Wabash Indians who were principally the object of the resolve of the 21st of July 1787, and the strength of the Creek Indians is very different. That the said Creeks are not only greatly superior in numbers but are more united, better regulated, and headed by a man whose talents appear to have fixed him in their confidence. That from the view of the object your Secretary has been able to take he conceives that the only effectual mode of acting against the said Creeks in case they should persist in their hostilities would be by making an invasion of their country with a powerful body of well regulated troops always ready to combat and able to defeat any combination of force the said Creeks could oppose and to destroy their towns and provisions.
--- Saturday, December 13, 1777.
I am unacquainted with the extent of your works, and consequently ignorant of the number or men necessary to man them. If your present numbers should be insufficient for that purpose, I would then by all means advise your making up the deficiency out of the best regulated militia that can be got.
--- George Washington (The Writings of George Washington, pp. 503-4, (G.P. Putnam & Sons, pub.)(1889))
The above quote is clearly not a request for a militia with the best set of regulations. (For brevity the entire passage is not shown and this quote should not be construed to imply Washington favored militias, in fact he thought little of them, as the full passage indicates.)
But Dr Sir I am Afraid it would blunt the keen edge they have at present which might be keept sharp for the Shawnese &c: I am convinced it would be Attended by considerable desertions. And perhaps raise a Spirit of Discontent not easily Queld amongst the best regulated troops, but much more so amongst men unused to the Yoak of Military Discipline.
--- Letter from Colonel William Fleming to Col. Adam Stephen, Oct 8, 1774, pp. 237-8. (Documentary History of Dunmore's War, 1774, Wisconsin historical society, pub. (1905))
And finally, a late-17th century comparison between the behavior of a large collection of seahorses and well-regulated soldiers:
One of the Seamen that had formerly made a Greenland Voyage for Whale-Fishing, told us that in that country he had seen very great Troops of those Sea-Horses ranging upon Land, sometimes three or four hundred in a Troop: Their great desire, he says, is to roost themselves on Land in the Warm Sun; and Whilst they sleep, they apppoint one to stand Centinel, and watch a certain time; and when that time's expir'd, another takes his place of Watching, and the first Centinel goes to sleep, &c. observing the strict Discipline, as a Body of Well-regulated Troops
--- (Letters written from New-England, A. D. 1686. P. 47, John Dutton (1867))
The quoted passages support the idea that a well-regulated militia was synonymous with one that was thoroughly trained and disciplined, and as a result, well-functioning. That description fits most closely with the "to put in good order" definition supplied by the Random House dictionary. The Oxford dictionary's definition also appears to fit if one considers discipline in a military context to include or imply well-trained.
What about the Amendment's text itself? Considering the adjective "well" and the context of the militia clause, which is more likely to ensure the security of a free state, a militia governed by numerous laws (or the proper amount of regulation [depending on the meaning of "well"] ) or a well-disciplined and trained militia? This brief textual analysis also suggests "to put in good order" is the correct interpretation of well regulated, signifying a well disciplined, trained, and functioning militia.
And finally, when regulated is used as an adjective, its meaning varies depending on the noun its modifying and of course the context. For example: well regulated liberty (properly controlled), regulated rifle (adjusted for accuracy), and regulated commerce (governed by regulations) all express a different meaning for regulated. This is by no means unusual, just as the word, bear, conveys a different meaning depending on the word it modifies: bearing arms, bearing fruit, or bearing gifts.
A little bit of common knowledge and common sense goes a long way.
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