4 ms·
> The supreme court has ruled (almost 100 years later) that it does mean people can own guns, generally for the purpose of state defense [1]. That's not really
by jack_h 5y ago
> The supreme court has ruled (almost 100 years later) that it does mean people can own guns, generally for the purpose of state defense [1].
That's not really a fair reading of Presser. That case merely upheld Cruikshank and by extension Barron. Since the Second Amendment was only a limitation on Congress (pre-incorporation) the State could effectively do anything. Presser just added on that States couldn't go so far as to deprive the Federal government the resource of the militia.
> This is the first I've heard of a regular citizen having the right to parade around in their own battleships.
People definitely had their own canons and ships back in the day and it wasn't solely a United States thing [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
- readflaggedcomm 5y agoAs written, the First Amendment restricts Congress, while the Second restricts at least all parties to the document, both Federal and State levels. Obviously, such plain readings aren't popular.