joe dees [joedees@bellsouth.net] wrote:
>Automatic weapons did not exist when the framers wrote the Constitution,
>nor did rockets or nukes. May I be so bold as to suggest that, had they,
>the Constitution itself would have pried them from the fingers of the
>general populace?
Yawn. You should really study some history before making stupid claims. At that time people owned weapons including cannon and *warships*. Why didn't they ban private possession of those weapons if they'd be so scared of a wimpy little assault rifle? Possibly because they always intended that the second amendment covered an individual right to own military weapons so that state militias would be able to defend against any kind of attack without a standing army?
Rockets, BTW, were invented by the Chinese many centuries ago, and most certainly did exist back then. Why doesn't the second amendment say 'the right to keep and bear arms -- except rockets -- shall not be infringed'?
Mark