Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Gardner
So is at least part of the argument for the literal interpretation of the 2nd A that citizens should always have access to firearms in case our own government becomes oppressive?
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i guess I question the term 'literal interpretation" since i only see a single plain language meaning
but yes, based on the experience of the population at that time -can it mean any thing else?
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it"
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
the text in its entirety
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/cha...ranscript.html
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