Mussel loader?
Do bears...?
The invading armies had muskets. We needed muskets. This isn’t brain surgery.
One would have to put on the ‘history-hat’ and put yourself into the situation where British authority arrived in your village or town, and right away....they wanted your guns confiscated to ensure ‘respect’ for authority. This didn’t go over well. Had this not happened, then there would have been no cause to write the brief text into the Constitution.
Yes they did intend for citizens to be armed with military weaonry. How would letters of marque work otherwise?
Look at the armaments on the Lucy. She was a private warship armed to the teeth. (As I recall, 14 plus cannons.)
That tired argument is so full of c749 I can’t believe it is still tried by the left/commies.
Freaking moron
the Founders were well aware of, and were fine with, private citizens owning CANNONS
CANNONS.
Cannons that would blow a hole thru modern day houses.
And the Founders were ABSOLUTELY FINE with them being owned by private citizens.
Feral government servants have no business interfering with our natural right to arm ourselves with the latest in state-of-the-art personal weaponry at least equal to that possessed by feral government thugs. (Actually, with few exceptions, such as border control and perhaps the FBI, no feral bureaucrats should be issued guns. When they need law enforcement, let them go to the local sheriff.)
Gun ownership is not a right granted by any law or even the Constitution. It is a natural right of man merely recognized by the Constitution. And yes, it is a bit frightening for our so called elected servants when We the People, the sovereign citizens they supposedly serve, are as well armed as the military, but that is the whole point, isn't it?
Of course, self defense, defense of family and hunting -- in that order -- are natural rights, too, but the primary purpose of a well armed citizenry is to strike an ongoing undercurrent of well placed fear into the hearts of our feral government servants, lest they forget who are the servants and who are the sovereigns.
The entire point of the Second Amendment is to instill in our public servants a healthy respect (if not downright fear) of their sovereign masters (i.e., We the People). The Second Amendment does not grant, but merely recognizes our natural right to arm ourselves with state-of-the-art weaponry to a level that the fools in the feral government should fear for their lives such that they never be tempted to overstep their limited and temporary powers.
The phrase "well-regulated" was long in common use at the time of writing of the Second Amendment (and remained so for a century thereafter). It referred to the property of something being in proper working order. Something that was well-regulated was well maintained, calibrated correctly and functioning as expected.
It is quite clear that the Founders used the phrase "well-regulated" to denote that militia forces should be skilled with arms of contemporary military utility and relevant military tactics, so that they can serve in the defense of Republic against both foreign invaders and the threat of domestic tyrants commanding a national army against the liberty of the citizenry.
What we normal people are saying (and useful idiot leftists don't really understand) is that it is vitally important that our public servants (especially the bloated drones that inhabit the District of Corruption) never forget that We The People are the true sovereigns in this nation and that they are our mere temporary servants. That they might fear the citizenry is a good thing. That they should fear that any attempt at tyranny should lead to their deaths is a very good thing, for that is what keeps such an outcome safely in the hypothetical.
“Did the Founding Fathers Want Citizens to Have Military Weapons?”
Yes they did.
Mussel loaders? Clam launchers? Oyster roisterers? Snail mailers? Take your pick. If enemies came at us with rubber bands, would the left ban rubbers? We need to be armed, to protect life, liberty, and property. And a fighting chance is defined as “not being outgunned.” Simple as that.
Of course not. While setting up the most radical idea of freedom and self-governance in the history of man, the founding fathers realized they needed to protect the sport of target shooting and hunting.
After intense debate, amendments to protect the right to play cards and fly kites were rejected. An the founders never could have anticipated bowling.
"While I cannot presume to know what the current slate of elected officials are thinking on the issue of gun confiscation at this moment, their collective past words, actions, and positions lead me to believe if they thought they could get away with it, yes, they would confiscate every gun in American not in the hands of their own designated people and groups.
"I think that starts with our recent ex putative-president and resonates throughout the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party, a position advocated with zeal among the left's most zealous supporters. But due to the Second Amendment and active opposition by groups such as the NRA, that likely is not possible today, but we must remain ever vigilant so it is not possible tomorrow.
"Now is the time to disarm our out-of-control federal government, that is one key advantage our system allows, just shut down all these expensive bureaucratic agency police, I would rather trust our National Guard units and those who serve in our military, the others should be fired. Our federal government can't protect our information, much less our borders and lives."
“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined...”
- George Washington, First Annual Address, to both House of Congress, January 8, 1790
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
- Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.”
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787
“The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
- Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776
“A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.” - Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to to John Cartwright, 5 June 1824
“On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823
“I enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775, until November, 1777, since which there has been no event of any consequence ... I think that upon the whole it has been about one half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in others less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with his gun from his infancy.”
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
“To disarm the people...[i]s the most effectual way to enslave them.”
- George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adooption of the Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788
“I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.”
- George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.”
- Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787
“Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.”
- James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788
“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.”
- James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789
“...the ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the people alone...”
- James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”
- William Pitt (the Younger), Speech in the House of Commons, November 18, 1783
“A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves…and include, according to the past and general usuage of the states, all men capable of bearing arms… “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”
- Richard Henry Lee, Federal Farmer No. 18, January 25, 1788
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.... The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.”
- Patrick Henry, Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1778
“This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.... The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”
- St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1803
“The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms, like law, discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The balance ofpower is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside. And while a single nation refuses to lay them down, it is proper that all should keep them up. Horrid mischief would ensue were one-half the world deprived of the use of them; for while avarice and ambition have a place in the heart of man, the weak will become a prey to the strong. The history of every age and nation establishes these truths, and facts need but little arguments when they prove themselves.”
- Thomas Paine, “Thoughts on Defensive War” in Pennsylvania Magazine, July 1775
“The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”
- Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, 1788
“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, 1833
“What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty .... Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.”
- Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, I Annals of Congress 750, August 17, 1789
“For it is a truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion.”
- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 25, December 21, 1787
“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state. In a single state, if the persons intrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.”
- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28
“[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.”
- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28, January 10, 1788
“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.”
- Tench Coxe, Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789
https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/gun-quotations-founding-fathers
Weren’t pretty much all weapons military weapons when the founders were, er, founding? Which makes the question, oh I don’t know, silly?
“I will be the first to say I do not have all of the answers on how to fix this huge problem in our country”
Not one of these dumb asses have any idea why we have these types of killings these days. They cant connect the dots at all.
Single mothers/fathers, trying to raise up kids and while at work, the kids are running loose doing what the hell ever they want. Kids are out running wild after hours at night.
Then, letting somebody else raise the kids. No respect is taught at all. never a good swift wack cross the backside to correct them when they run wild.
Hell, they drop those kids at childbirth like a animal and walk away.
No Sunday school, no dinner around the table after work and school, everybody sits and stares at a video game or smart phone. Dont talk to each other except grunt at each other once in a while. WTH could go wrong?
Bookmark.
Yes. In certain cases the laws demanded they have them.
Bang! for later.
The whole reason was for citizens to be able to fight off a tyranical government so it stands to reason that citizens should have the exact same weapons as the military.