The Second Amendment Revisited and Revised

[vakkotaur]

I've just finished reading John Ringo's and Linda Evans' book The Road to Damascus, set centuries in the future on a world, Jefferson, at the about the edge of human space colonization. Early in the book one character notes a part of the Jeffersonian constitution that reads, in effect:

The right of the people to keep and bear arms for self-defense and defense of the homeland shall never be infringed, limited, rescinded, interfered with, or prohibited by any decree of law, decision by court, or policy by executive branch or any of its agencies. And this time, we mean it. (Pages 152-153)

I really like the brilliant clarity and utter lack of an all too often misinterpreted phrase.

Comments

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

Sadly, that book shows how even a very vigorous and well-formed Republic can be subverted, especially if you can grab hold of the military. Though the Bolo ... well, you remember :)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

The term "cautionary tale" comes to mind. Much of the book reads rather like some of the history of the last century.

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

Seriously, if the authors had meant the second amendment to say "Only state militias shall be permitted to bear arms", they would have phrased it much differently and not placed it in the Bill of Rights.

[ken-redtail.livejournal.com]

What does it say for the first? That one needs to be clarified too!

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

That was not mentioned, at least not so directly.

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

On a related note, has Orvan been affected by Hallmark's beef recall? And here I thought they only made greeting cards....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/02/18/2008-02-18_bad_beef_sparks_alert_in_schools_recall.html

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

He has been unaffected, at least directly. He is of course hoping for, though not expecting, the permanent shutdown of the slaughter operation.