So if training isn’t necessary to be considered a member of a militia, and organization can mean any amount of organization at all, then you are using “militia” to mean “people.” If that is what you think they were saying, then why would they use the word “militia” at all?
“militia” refers to that aspect of “the people” that can be charged with enforcing law, suppressing insurrection, and repelling invasion. The second amendment uses “militia” and “people” synonymously. It declares that average, everyday individuals provide the security and freedom of the state. That obligation is not tasked to the armies of a lord, nobleman, or king, but retained by We The People, individually and collectively.
The second amendment says that because we bear this responsibility, we must not be disarmed.
It also says that the militia should be well regulated. Assuming that militia is all able bodied adults, it is currently entirely un-regulated.
We could restrict ownership to one assault rifle per militia member*, and have a licensing program that requires a training course. We could mandate physical standards across the board, schedule regular local military training for every able-bodied adult. We could have a quota of bullets that each militia member should have on hand, require range training every six months, and account for missing bullets and negligent discharges.
I notice you’re not arguing for any of that.
Edit: actually, make this “require one assault rifle per…” And standardize on a caliber so that members can share ammunition.
It also says that the militia should be well regulated. Assuming that militia is all able bodied adults, it is currently entirely un-regulated.
It is not unregulated. We are subject to every regulation that Congress has deemed necessary and proper to impose on the “Unorganized class” of the militia. (10 USC §246).
If you don’t feel that the regulations on that class of the militia are appropriate, it is your responsibility to inform your representatives, and to ask them to subject you to those regulations that you believe are “necessary and proper” to ensure you can fulfill your militia obligations.
What regulations do you want to subject yourself to?
We could restrict ownership to one assault rifle per militia member*,
Nope.
Article I allows regulation of the militia, not their weapons. Second amendment prohibits infringement on your right to keep and bear arms. You cannot be restricted to a single firearm, or only one of a certain type.
and have a licensing program that requires a training course.
Nope. You can require every militia member attend that training course, but you cannot make gun ownership contingent on having done so.
You can criminally prosecute those who refuse to attend that mandated militia training course, and upon conviction, you can strip them of certain rights and privileges, including the right to keep and bear arms. But first you have to mandate that everyone attend such a course, and legislate a legitimate penalty for failure to attend.
I notice you’re not arguing for any of that.
The only one of those I would argue for is regulation of negligent discharge, but I don’t have to: negligent discharges are already heavily regulated. You can easily find yourself in violation of existing law for negligently discharging your firearm. None of the other regulations you proposed make you any more prepared to enforce law, suppress insurrection, or repel invasion.
The only regulation I would propose would be mandated training on the laws governing use of force. These laws don’t seem to be common knowledge among the general public. Too many people conflate an employer’s “appeasement” policy with legality.
I mean it’s really how far you want to take samantics.
I take the second to mean every person has the right to form into groups to protect themselves and their own from foreign and domestic threats. Others disagree and that’s part of the whole debate about the second.
What does it mean to you?
It means absent a unified millitary that the states have the right to assemble militias for the common defense of american citizens within their borders,
Because they didn’t have a unified military or a modern model of civilian policing yet back then.
That’s also why the third amendment is worded the way it is, it’s supposed to mean you can’t make a city pay for its own occupation by peace keeping forces, IE cops most of the time, because back then cops and the militia were one in the same.
The whole idea was NOT to have a unified military. But to have volunteer militias.
That’s incorrect. The right to form groups (for any purpose) is guaranteed by the first amendment right to association, not the second.
The Constitution only uses the word “militia” in the singular. There is only one militia.
Basically, “militia” is who we are until we are drafted into an army or the navy.