On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 19:19:50 GMT, "Peter Aitken"
wrote:

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
hlink.net...
None of those items are in the constitution!
The 2nd amendment is the only one that is even close, and it does not
specify or limit type of arms.


Huh? That's my precise point. If you believe that the constitution must be
interpreted on a literal word-for-word basis, then states can have slavery
if they wish (because the constitution does not expressly prohibit it),
states can prevent women and blacks from voting (because the constitution
does not expressly prohibit it), and the government has no right to regulate
drug sales (because the constitution does not expressly provide for it). If
the intent of the framers is so important, the surely the "arms" mentioned
in the 2nd amendment does not include repeating pistols and automatic rifles
because the framers did not know of such things and could not possibly have
intended them to be included in the definition of "arms."

Peter Aitken

Have you read the Constitution in the last 130 or so years? It clearly
says that slavery is illegal in the US or its territories. It clearly
says that the right to vote cannot be denied due to gender or race and
even the original Constitution clearly says that the federal
government can regulate INTER-STATE drug sales. Hell, even in those
days there were "arms" that were more powerful than flintlocks. They
had cannon, they had mortors, they had bombs and they even had
rudimentary torpedos. All of which were regularly owned by private
individuals. They understood that the the word "arms" meant more than
muskets, rifles and pistols. Pick up a copy of the Constitution at
your local book store tomorrow as we celebrate Constitution Day and
give it a quick glance. You appear to be the reason Bobby Byrd passed
a law requiring the teaching of the Constitution each year on
September 17 (or the day before or after if it falls on a weekend as
it does this year) in every federally publicly funded school and
federal agency.

The Other Dave Hall
Dave Hall

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who
have not got it." -- G.B. Shaw