And another founding father who would utterly disagree that claims that the 2nd amendment is not about fighting tyranny. James Madison, 4th president of the United States, also known as the father of of the constitution. That is right ladies and gentleman, he is the man who wrote the thing, and if anyone should have insight into exactly what the 2nd amendment means, it would be this gentleman.
"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." (James Madison, The Federalist Papers #46 at 243-244)
Seems pretty clear to me. Kind of hard to claim that the founders didn't intend the American people to own weapons to fight government tyranny when the man who wrote the thing says otherwise in plain English.
A guy wrote a book about us misinterpreting the founding fathers. Interview with the author:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.booktv.org/Watch/14131/After+Words+Michael+Austin+Thats+Not+What+They+Meant+Reclaiming+the+Founding+Fathers+from+Americas+Right+Wing+hosted+by+David+Fontana+George+Washington+University+Law+School.aspx
There's a lot not to like, but I'm going to be more careful with how I use quotes.
A point that should very well be considered.
DeleteAnd while the quote is a small portion of an essay that does not specifically deal with arming the peoplem, it assuage the fears of national influence superceding state influence due to the formentation of a national military. It is clear in Federalist No. 46 that Madison assumed that the American people would be armed as a matter of course. I am sure Michael Austin would chastise me for taking the quote out of context, but in this instance, even if inserted back into the essay, one can still see that Madison was of the mind that the American people should be armed.