Guns and margarine

Hey, get this. With everyone talking about the various senseless shooting tragedies around the nation, several States have either recently enacted or are contemplating legislation to EXPAND gun rights. And let me say this is NOT legislation I would consider naming "Olivia." Although several pithier monikers spring to mind. But it does make some sense because there must be something in the 2nd Amendment about the right to keep assault weapons in your car while it's parked in somebody else's private lot. I've heard James Madison specifically wanted to protect that particular freedom.

Actually, have you ever read the 2nd Amendment? It's very short and it's a really bad sentence:

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.

No way that could get published today. But putting that aside, while it's hard to understand exactly what this sentence is trying to say, clearly it says something about Militias, right? Frankly, I don't see how this Amendment gives an individual unaffiliated with a State-sponsored militia a right to bear Arms any more than it gives him or her a right to bare arms. Although after a cursory review of the Constitution, I'm afraid we may not have a right to bare arms, either. (Seriously, the closest you could come would be the 1st Amendment, and that's a stretch.) So I propose a law requiring everyone to wear cardigans! But not in that awful Burnt Orange color that seems so popular these days...

Of course, you don't have to take my word for it. If you're interested in an insightful legal discussion on the history behind the 2nd Amendment (and I know someone must be -- you there, in the back, is your hand up?), check out this link.