Keep in mind that the original primary meaning of the Latin word "militia" was not a body of armed men, but defense activity, and only secondarily those that engage in defense activity. See "Militia v. Inimicitia" http://www.constitution.org/col/mil_inim.htm . Most of the Founders who contributed to the drafting of the Constitution were Latin-literate, so we can't ignore the original Latin meaning, which included the notion of militia being broadly representative of the community it defends, and not a "select" militia that might become a tool of oppression. We need to strongly criticize misuse of the term in popular discourse, and insist that such partisan groups not be referred to as "militia" but as "armed partisans".
-- Jon ---------------------------------------------------------------- Our efforts depend on donations from people like you. Directions for donors are at http://www.constitution.org/whatucando.htm Constitution Society 7793 Burnet Road #37, Austin, TX 78757 512/374-9585 www.constitution.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get your free digital certificate from http://www.thawte.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] 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.
