2A Does Guard 1A

 

From the Constitution of the United States of America

First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

Second Amendment

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.

Assertion/Question

There has been a long standing assertion that the US 2^nd Amendment was put in place to protect the 1^st Amendment, though for many this does not seem like a reasonable position to hold; additionally for many people the 1^st Amendment only addresses freedom of speech.

This Author’s Position/Reasoning

The simplicity of the US Constitution is in adoption a work of art. Of course as the years passed many people were able to provide many interpretations. For example from the 1^st amendment there is the term ‘the press’. Back in the day of the writing of the Constitution, some people privately owned their own printing press and others would bring a single page document to have it printed in mass to be handed out to the masses; this practice provided for the launch of many a NEWS paper, some of which became what we recognize as ‘The Press’ of today.

 

From the 2^nd amendment I want to draw your attention to the term, ‘A well regulated Militia’.  For the Americans in 1791, there was an expectation that every able bodied man and male youth who could carry an ax, stick or pitchfork, shoot a pistol and/or musket would rise in defense of their community, much like every able bodied person would also be expected assisting in putting out a fire in their community.

 

When considering the two amendments being taken to task here, both have lines which provide the ideals being a good citizen within a community. The 1^st is a promise towards ensuring a pursuit of prosperity, while the 2^nd provides the means for the citizens to be responsible to themselves coupled with an almost matching responsibility to their community. Also, remember that the primary task of any Federal government is supposed to be the safety of the people ‘from enemies both foreign and domestic’, as the Americans like to put it, and when the Federal Government fails at these tasks the citizenry, writ large, will remain equipped with the ability to pick-up that task thus ensuring the basic freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for both themselves and their community and that those pursuits shall not be infringed upon.

 

Long has it been debated regarding The Law, if any preference should been given to the intent of a law over the word of a law, this conversation asked for either a subjective or an objective interpretation and The US Constitution has not been exempt from this level of partisanship.

 

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were learned men; many of them knew history, multiple languages, the law, and grammar, additionally they understood that when you don’t want something repeated, simply don’t write it down. Yet these men wrote it down and therefore by logical extension they wanted it repeated, and for about 180 years it was read and repeated often with the original intent mostly understood and debated. Then a number of things changed around 1960 when large swaths of people started taking way too many pills. 

 

On the point of being well learned and tutored in disciplines such as: history, philosophy, law and especially grammar, please keep that in mind when you the reader considers the two sentences below:

 

I love eating, my friends, and my pets

Vs.

I love eating my friends and my pets.

 

So yes, one must remember that details such as commas can be very important, less you want to sound like a psychopath.