<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt">From what I've been able to determine, "well-regulated" at the time meant something similar to "properly functioning". The "militia" consisted of ordinary citizens, as well as the more formal "militias", such as the National Guard. In fact, according to U.S. Code Title 10, Subtitle A, Part 1, Chapter 13, (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/311) many of us on this list are already members of the "unorganized militia". Here is that statute in detail:<br><br>"<span class="enumbell">(a)</span>
<span class="ptext-">The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section
<a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/32/313" title="§ 313 - Appointments and enlistments: age limitations" alt="§ 313 - Appointments and enlistments: age limitations">313</a> of title
<a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/32" title="Title 32 - NATIONAL GUARD" alt="Title 32 - NATIONAL GUARD">32</a>,
under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of
intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female
citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
</span>
<div class="psection-1">
<a href="" name="b"></a>
<span class="enumbell">(b)</span>
<span class="ptext-">The classes of the militia are—
</span>
<div class="psection-2">
<a href="" name="b_1"></a>
<span class="enumbell">(1)</span>
<span class="ptext-">the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
</span>
</div>
<div class="psection-2">
<a href="" name="b_2"></a>
<span class="enumbell">(2)</span>
<span class="ptext-">the unorganized militia, which consists
of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard
or the Naval Militia."<br><br>Age and gender restrictions aside, it seems clear that "militia" was meant to refer to the "unorganized militia" consisting of "the People". The intent seems to be that citizens would procure firearms themselves and train themselves to shoot straight so that if the "unorganized militia" was ever needed they would be ready. Say, for example, we get invaded by Canada.<br><br>Any restrictions placed on weapons legally available to the general public would need to keep that in mind. We would also need to keep in mind that the militia is intended to be necessary "</span>to the security of a free State" according to the Second Amendment. Given all that, if restrictions had to be made, it would be to weapons that are either too cumbersome for an individual to use, or too specialized so as to require training that was too intense for the average citizen to be able to accomplish on their own (such
as learning to operate and Apache helicopter). You could probably make the argument that weapons that are not useful in protecting the "security of a free State" could be restricted, though you could probably argue that most any weapon could be useful somehow.<br><br>I don't know what to tell you. As a general rule of thumb, based on the above, I'd say that any weapon a police officer or security guard would find useful to protect themselves against criminals or useful in riots should not be restricted.<br><br>Paul<br></div>
</div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br></div> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Tom Hansen <thansen@moscow.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Paul Rumelhart <godshatter@yahoo.com> <br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cc:</span></b> "thansen@moscow.com" <thansen@moscow.com>; "vision2020@moscow.com" <vision2020@moscow.com> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, March 21, 2013 2:52 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Vision2020] SHAME ON U.S. ! ! !<br> </font> </div> <br>
<meta http-equiv="x-dns-prefetch-control" content="off"><div id="yiv1793193741"><div><div style="">Mr. Rumelhart informs us:</div><div style=""><br></div><div><span style="">"</span><span style="">Besides, fast firing weapons sound like they might be useful to a militia."</span></div><div><span style=""><br></span></div><div><span style="">Two questions . . .</span></div><div><span style=""><br></span></div><div><span style="">1 - What do you consider to be a constitutionally acceptable definition of "a well regulated militia"?</span></div><div><span style=""><br></span></div><div><span style="">2 - What restrictions, if any, would you enact concerning the types of weapons legally available to the general public?</span></div><div><br><div style="">Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div style=""><br></div><div style="">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</div><div style="">http://www.MoscowCares.com</div><div
style=""> </div><div style=""><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size:medium;">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size:medium;"> </span></div><span style="font-size:medium;">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-size:medium;">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div style=""><font size="3"><span style=""><br></span></font></div><div style=""><font size="3"><span style="">- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div></div><div style=""><br>On Mar 21, 2013, at 2:37 PM, Paul Rumelhart <<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">godshatter@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite" style="">Besides, fast firing weapons sound like they might be useful to a
militia.</blockquote></div></div><meta http-equiv="x-dns-prefetch-control" content="on"><br><br> </div> </div> </div></body></html>