Founding Fathers’ intention wasn’t to arm a nation to the teeth
■ ‘A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’
While the United States’ Bill of Rights, the major addition by the Founding Fathers to the US Constitution, was drawn, the well regulated ‘militias’ referenced in the Second Amendment were regulated by the individual states and were to fall out when requested by the governor of that particular state to help in emergencies and requests for troops in aid of the national government.
The members are part-time soldiers with full-time jobs and their weapons are kept in their local armoury for use in training exercises and in the event of call-up for state or national duty – in other words a reserve force.
The intention of the Founding Fathers was not to supply machine guns and automatic weapons to its citizens to hunt deer.
It was to aid the government, state or national, in time of emergencies.
When the National Rifle Association and its true believers quote the Second Amendment they don’t usually touch on the preface of the amendment.
They stick with the old saw “... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”.
Since 1903, all the states in the USA have renamed and reconstituted their militia or reserves to be units of the National Guard.
Their members are well regulated, not individual citizens.
I am writing this as a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, a resident of the USA for 64 years and an Irish citizen.
Francis R McAlonan, Jr Louisburgh, Co Mayo