The 2nd Amendment (Part 8)
Intro To The Constitution (Part 20)
Previous article in this series: Government Tyranny
The key word here is “infringe”, which means: “to [limit or violate] in any way“.
Here are the definitions relevant to the time period of the Constitution; according to the Oxford English Dictionary [26]:
“To commit a breach or infraction of (a law, obligation, right, etc.); to violate or break (an oath, pledge, treaty, etc.); to transgress, contravene.”
And:
“To break in or encroach on or upon.”
Here are some historical usages of these definitions of the term “infringe”, taken from the Oxford English Dictionary [26].
Year 1702 – Source: Clarendon’s Hist. Rebellion I. ii. 106
“The undoubted Fundamental priviledge of the Commons in Parliament, that all Supplies should have their rise and beginning from Them..had never been infringed, or violated, or so much as question’d.”
Year 1715 – Source: A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. iv. 94
“The proud Trojans first infringe the Peace.”
Year 1769 – Source: W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. vi. 88
“The crime [coining] itself is made a species of high treason; as being a breach of allegiance, by infringing the king’s prerogative.”
Year 1769 – Source: H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 141
“Judges..are yet intimidated from infringing, by any sentence, on the laws and constitution of these realms.”
Year 1774 – Source: T. Jefferson Autobiogr. App., in Wks. (1859) I. 141
“Let no act be passed by any one legislature, which may infringe on the rights and liberties of another.”
Year 1790 – Source: Coll. Voy. round World I. vi. 147
“They did not infringe upon this boundary for some time.”
Year 1848 – Source: H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 III. i. 7
“The editor..having infringed the regulations to which the press had been subjected by the Government.”
Year 1855 – Source: T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 287
“Those privileges of the people which the Stuarts had illegally infringed.”
Year 1874 – Source: F. W. Farrar Silence & Voices of God viii. 137
“Never let pleasure infringe on the domain of duty.”
Year 1898 – Source: Westm. Gaz. 4 May 9/3
“With regard to the second alleged infringing tyre..the judge held that it infringed neither the Welch nor the Clincher patent.”
In light of this context, the 2nd Amendment could be reworded as: “…The right of the people to keep & bear arms shall not be [limited nor violated in any way].”
This is further supported by the understanding which we have already established, that the purpose of the militia was to stand in place of a nation’s army; and thus, in the same way that it would seem absurd for a nation to limit the weapons of its own army, likewise, it is equally absurd for a country to do so against the militia; especially given the context of period quotes, such as one we have already mentioned, by Tench Coxe:
“Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American. What clause in the state or federal constitution hath given away that important right. … I do not hesitate to affirm, that the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.”
— Tench Coxe; “To The Citizens of the United States”; Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) – Feb. 20, 1788; Page 2 (Italics emphasis in original; bolding emphasis added) [18]
Given the meaning of the term at the time, as well as the ideological context of the people who wrote the Constitution & the Bill of Rights, it seems pretty clear that the original intent of this Amendment was to prevent the right of the American people to {own & wield} the fundamental weapons of war, from being limited in any way, so as to ensure that the people themselves {always & forever} retain the means of self-defense, and the tools necessary to uphold the spirit of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
— The Declaration of Independence [27]
The organized militia is not a pre-requisite to the individual’s right to own military grade weapons. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite: the individual’s right to {keep & use} their own privately-held military grade weapons, is the pre-requisite to the government being able to muster a militia, which consists entirely of private individuals bearing their own arms.
“Mankind are, in all ages, caught by the same baits: The same tricks, play’d over and over again, still trepan them. The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy.”
— David Hume [7]
“If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.”
— Samuel Adams; Letter to James Warren; Oct. 24, 1780 [24]
Next article in this series: Rapid-Fire Guns & High-Capacity Magazines
Citations
This entire Constitution series was written as a single big document over the course of several years; so, all the citations are mixed up together. When I went back to break it up into pieces, I wasn’t confident that I could redistribute all the citations & their reference numbers without screwing something up. So, I decided to leave all the citations together, and post them as the final article in the series.
