08-04-2018, 09:03 PM
stanc Wrote:Not exactly. Just possessing guns does not equate to having the power to determine what are rights and privileges.Yes, until there is a red line that the people will not cross, obey or respect. This is where I stated the power of belief comes into play.
IIRC, private citizens own more small arms than all government agencies combined, but it is the government that determines and defines our legal rights and privileges.
stanc Wrote:Pretty much the latter. As written, it seems clear that the Second Amendment was intended to ensure that organized State militias had access to military small arms.This is where we will agree to disagree.
There is nothing in the Amendment which says it was to counter government power. Quite the opposite, actually. The sole purpose noted for militias is state security.
And the Constitution contains provision for calling out the militia to suppress insurrections, but nothing whatsoever about using the militia to conduct insurrections.
stanc Wrote:Yup. That's because:1. This is where the discussion between the religion of intelligent design or atheism occurs, which is not appropriate for this forum. Our founders did believe:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their "Creator" with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. They plainly expressed that all rights come from a creator,not the state as to be self-evident.
1. I've yet to see anyone provide proof that God has given us any rights, let alone specified what those rights are. If you can give such proof, please do.
2. As for so-called "natural rights," the only "right" that I see in nature is the right of living beings to do whatever they have the ability and desire to do.
in·al·ien·a·ble
inˈālēənəb(ə
l/adjective
adjective: inalienableunable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor.
2. I agree, but there are many other natural rights like the need for self defense, learning, understanding, discovery, family, caring, survival, etc.

