I have posted this several times but it is always appreciated by those who have not seen it.  It is a long read but, [b]very[/b] worthwhile.

[url=http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/silveira58.html]We don’t need no steenking 2nd Amendment![/url]

I like it.

Thanks

Good stuff !  I sure didn't know the part about the militia being formed later........

Thanks very much.

1Gun - any chance of posting a few of the more delectable excerpts ??

... Should be manditory reading in high school.

“What are you doing with that?” Bill asked.

I looked up. He was talking to me.

I looked down in my lap at the gun parts I had there. “I’m cleaning it,” I said.

“What do you need it for?” he asked.

“I don’t usually clean them but...”

“No, not why do you need to clean it, why do you need a gun?”

“Why do I need it?”

“Yes.”

“I want it,” I said.

“But why do you need one?” he persisted.

“Need one?” I asked again, not understanding his question. “I don’t follow you.”

“How many guns do you have?”

“You mean ‘own’ or how many did I bring up with me?”

My question seemed to put him off.

“How many do you own?” he asked in a voice that was tinged with exasperation. “How many guns do you have here, there, and everywhere?”

I thought a minute. “About a dozen.”

He screwed up his face. “What do you need 12 guns for? If you need a gun, one should be enough.”

“Enough for what?”

“What do you need a gun for?”

I'm always flabbergasted how people think the 2nd amendment refer's to the government's authority to own guns.

Everyone knows, a priori, the government has the power to keep and bear arms.  All governments do and have in the past. An article in the main body of the constitution gives the government the authority to raise an army and navy. Why would the drafters of the constitution redundantly state an obvious power of national sovereignty in the Bill of Rights?

The spirit of the 1st 5 amendments is to assert individual rights the government has no authority to abridge.  The others deal with the rights of states vis a vis the federal government.

Some are just dumb, but others just haven't thought it through. I've seen some anti-gunners become pro-gunners after they realized that their position made no sense.

Stinking gunophobic bigots. I hate gunophobes. I

The part about natural rights ought to be mandatory reading for the Bush administration.

I don't think it's just an issue with the 2nd Ademendment. That's all constitutional trivia, what's the big picture is that modern government doesn't believe that we individuals can be trusted with our rights. Since weapons are the most visible in terms of abuse, it will go first.

btt

Good article!  I'm especially glad he brought up the 9th & 10th amendments.  People don't pay enough attention to these very important amendments.  They are supposed to keep the federal government from growing too big.  See what happens when the people don't pay attention to what their government is doing!!