Is Gun Ownership a Right?

[BjornF16]

Not exactly.

The militia draws from a small subset of the population (in the 18th century, able-bodied, white males 18-45 years old), who may or may not be familiar with the use of firearms, and most of whom are likely not the least bit familiar with the military use of arms.

The 2A does NOT say: "The right of militia members to keep and bear arms..."; it does, however, say: "The right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms..."

The militia is but a small subset of the PEOPLE...

Furthermore, the Founding Generation fully understood that the federal government was granted NO power to regulate arms by the Constitution, and therefore the ability to regulate arms was reserved to the states. The same could really be said about the entire Bill of Rights (just read the Federalists Papers for arguments supporting this position).

The reference to the militia in what became the 2A was not a recognition of federal authority to regulate arms (as stated above, the Feds were NOT given the specific power to regulate arms), but rather the chief political reason guaranteeing against government infringement (but not necessarily the only reason).

So why did the committee reverse the order of Madison's original submission for what became the 2A?....it reads better (but does not change the meaning).