On Tue, Sep 10, 2002, Uri Bruck wrote about "Re: [OT] proposed israeli laws regarding internet and encryption": > > In the US, supporters of the second amendment, like the NRA (National Rifle > > Association) and ESR (Eric S. Raymond ;) see http://tuxedo.org/~esr/guns/) > > have the saying "If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns!". > > Actually, the Second Ammendment says : > "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 doesn't say that everyone run around waving guns.
Tell that to the NRA :) See http://www.nraila.org/Faqs.asp?FormMode=Call&LinkType=Section&Section=17 for their view of the second amendment. Obviously, the NRA being the American firearms lobby, their view is far from being impartial. But while the Second Amendment is quite controversial, the wording in its second half isn't that difficult to understand. The people have a constitutional right to keep and bear (carry) guns. The government cannot take away that right without amending the constitution (just like prohibiting Alcohol required an amendment (the 18th)). Whether the right to carry arms includes "running around and waving them" or not, I don't know :) Also, what exactly the first part of the amendment means is debatable - how exactly the government is allowed to "regulate" the use of firearms (for example, as far as I know American law usually forbids carrying *concealed* weapons by civilians, or carrying automatic weapons) or what do militias have anything to do with it (supposedly this part is a relic from the time when having a federal army was considered a Bad Thing). Note that all of this is about keeping and carrying guns - not about using them. Nowhere does it say people are allowed to actually shoot guns... Look below for a relevant sig :) -- Nadav Har'El | Tuesday, Sep 10 2002, 4 Tishri 5763 [EMAIL PROTECTED] |----------------------------------------- Phone: +972-53-245868, ICQ 13349191 |Give Yogi a rifle. Support your right to http://nadav.harel.org.il |arm bears! ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
