Joanne Cabry, chair, Progressive Democrats of Sussex County is to be commended for her call to "vote out the cowards who are afraid of the NRA" (Cape Gazette, Feb. 22).
Her call should be expanded to a public debate with the NRA on the true interpretation of the Second Amendment: "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."
The only purpose of The Second Amendment is the "security of a Free State" and not the security of the individual citizen; the security of the home; the security of hunting or for any other "security." These other "securities" do not exist in the language of the Second Amendment.
Why did our Founding Fathers use the language "well regulated" and not just "militia?"
The "security" to be accomplished by a "well regulated Militia" cannot be implemented by the individual citizen but only through local, county, state or federal governments. A "well regulated Militia" is assured by the "right of the people to keep and bear Arms," shall not be infringed is a necessity.
It should be noted that "Arms" consisted of a single-shot muzzle- loading rifle possessed by virtually every adult citizen in Colonial America and that an unregulated militia (collection of free citizens with no constraints) is a mob and not a militia.
It is transparent that the Second Amendment's protection of the individual citizen to bear "Arms" applies to being a member of a "well regulated Militia" for the specific purpose of assuring the "security of a Free State," and is not a "personal right."
The culture of Colonial America cannot be ignored in the interpretation of The Bill of Rights.
These interpretations do not support Supreme Court Justice Scalia's majority opinion in Heller: The second amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm, unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home." - Words and Concepts not found in the Second Amendment.
It is suggested that Progressive Democrats of Sussex County and the Cape Gazette co-sponsor a public forum on the meaning of the Second Amendment with Heller in mind.
James W. Prescott Ph.D
director, BioBehavioral Systems
Lewes
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