BS. Gangbanger got off recently shooting guys with an illegal gun -- judge ruled self defense.
Yep.
(another)
In 2004, R. v. Kerr,
Accused killing fellow inmate in self-defence in knife fight in maximum security institution (prison).
Acquitted of possession of weapon for purpose dangerous to public peace on basis that he possessed his weapons for purposes of deterrence and defence.
READ THE FRAKKING DECISION BEFORE YOU POST BS.
Yep.
The 2nd Amendment, ratified in 1791, refers to the National Guard, which was created by an act of Congress in 1903.
The National Guard, funded by the federal government, occupying property leased to the federal government, using weapons owned by the federal government, punishing trespassers under federal law, is a state militia.
I had to read that thrice and apply logic before I realized it was a kind of sarcasm.
i.e. because the National Guard didn't exist until 112 years later, and all the drafters of the constitution were long dead, the National Guard could not be the reason for the 2nd Amendment.
The whole page is full of such sarcasm.
Amendments ARE parts of The Constitution.
Yep.
The 2nd amendment was a condition required to be part of the constitution before the constitution was agreed to. More accurately, in February 1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would agree to ratify the 4 page constitution only with the assurance that amendments would be immediately proposed.
1775 - Revolutionary War
1776 - Declaration of Independance
1781 - war ends
1787 - constitution written
1788 - constitution ratified by 9 of 13 states, enough to pass
1791 - Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments) added to the Constitution
The absence of a "bill of rights" turned out to be an obstacle to the Constitution's ratification by the states. It would take four more years of intense debate before the new government's form would be resolved. The Federalists opposed including a bill of rights on the ground that it was unnecessary. The Anti-Federalists, who were afraid of a strong centralized government, refused to support the Constitution without one.
In the end, popular sentiment was decisive. Recently freed from the despotic English monarchy, the American people wanted strong guarantees that the new government would not trample upon their newly won freedoms of speech, press and religion, nor upon their right to be free from warrantless searches and seizures. So, the Constitution's framers heeded Thomas Jefferson who argued: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."
Democracy means that people ought to be able to vote for public officials in fair elections, and make most political decisions by majority rule.
Liberty, on the other hand, means that even in a democracy, individuals have rights that no majority should be able to take away.
The rights that the Constitution's framers wanted to protect from government abuse were referred to in the Declaration of Independence as "unalienable rights." They were also called "natural" rights, and to James Madison, they were "the great rights of mankind." Although it is commonly thought that we are entitled to free speech because the First Amendment gives it to us, this country's original citizens believed that as human beings, they were entitled to free speech, and they invented the First Amendment in order to protect it. The entire Bill of Rights was created to protect rights the original citizens believed were naturally theirs.
-- ACLU
