Long ago, before I cared much or really even understood this issue, I often heard people say 2A was only about militias.
With all the disinformation coming from those that want to curtail our freedoms, I can understand how a person might wrongly believe this; if they did not research it for themselves.
The bottom line is our founding fathers all owned and routinely used firearms for all the same purposes we use them today. The authors of our Constitution intended for all of us to own, carry and use firearms for personal protection, hunting, sportshooting, and defending our most precious virtue, Liberty. If you have any doubt, read any of the volumes of records, catalogs of their letters, speeches, lists of their possessions, early drafts of the Constitution, and numerous accounts by others about their use of firearms of all types.
One of my favorites, sums up the general intent:
Edit: The following quote; I now believe to be misquote:
George Washington's address to the second session of the First U.S. Congress:
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty, teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon and citizens' firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that, to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 and 99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil influence. They deserve a place of honor with all that's good. When firearms go, all goes. We need them every hour."
http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/articles/guns.html
http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/firearms
With all the disinformation coming from those that want to curtail our freedoms, I can understand how a person might wrongly believe this; if they did not research it for themselves.
The bottom line is our founding fathers all owned and routinely used firearms for all the same purposes we use them today. The authors of our Constitution intended for all of us to own, carry and use firearms for personal protection, hunting, sportshooting, and defending our most precious virtue, Liberty. If you have any doubt, read any of the volumes of records, catalogs of their letters, speeches, lists of their possessions, early drafts of the Constitution, and numerous accounts by others about their use of firearms of all types.
One of my favorites, sums up the general intent:
Edit: The following quote; I now believe to be misquote:
George Washington's address to the second session of the First U.S. Congress:
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty, teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon and citizens' firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that, to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 and 99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil influence. They deserve a place of honor with all that's good. When firearms go, all goes. We need them every hour."
http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/articles/guns.html
http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/firearms
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