re: #418 sagehen

“Militia” as understood by the founders is very much like today’s Sheriff’s Dept or PD or Highway Patrol.

No, not really close. The Militia was the force of a single state that was made up of all the adult white males who could be called out to defend the state/nation against invasion, rebellion, or worse, slave uprising. The Sheriff was, much as in England, the local law enforcement authority and would deputize individuals only as necessary.

The militia as the defense of the US instead of a standing Army was the single greatest failure of the Constitution, driven by the fear of the standing armies of both King & Commonwealth during the English Civil War, and it’s ironic that the militia’s only noticeable successes were against the Whiskey Rebellion (lead by Washington himself) and against an utterly nonmilitary foe in Black Hawk’s War.

But as a result of that fear of standing armies, we have the legacy of a piss poorly written 2nd Amendment and modern nation ignorant of it’s historical origin.

Can I say again, I really want the Czech gun licensing system dropped into America? There is nothing incompatable with the actual 2nd Amendment in that system: Pass the tests, have a license? Good to go. Fail the tests? No license & no pew pew for you.