There is a common misconception that "regulated" meant "governed by a gov't agency."
However there was, and still is, a very important sense of the word which means "properly functioning." This term is still used when referring to the point-of-aim of all the barrels of a multi-barreled firearm - such as the common double-barrelled shotgun, or the relatively uncommon "drilling." There are many other contemporaneous examples of "regulated" or "well regulated" having the meaning of "properly functioning" or something close to that. My conclusion is that while "militia" means "all able bodied adults" (at that time it only included men), adding the modifying "well regulated" meant that the militia had to not only exist, it had to function properly - which at that time required firearms, firearms training and practice. --henry schaffer _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Firearmsregprof@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
