> The second amendment is entirely about state militias I disagree, and I'm certainly not the only one; there has been a lot of literature on this. Obviously w

> The second amendment is entirely about state militias I disagree, and I'm certainly not the only one; there has been a lot of literature on this. Obviously we're not going to resolve that here. However, I will offer a few comments, since you have presumed to imply that I have not actually read the documents in question. First, it seems odd for you to say that the second amendment is entirely about state militias, and then refer to the Constitution, which is a Federal document, and which, as we will see below, contains provisions for Federal actions regarding the Militia, not just state actions. Next, Article I, Section 8 says that Congress shall have the power: "To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;" Note that it does not say "create" the Militia. It assumes that "the Militia" is an already existing thing, and then says that Congress may provide for "calling forth" this already existing thing for certain purposes. It also says Congress may provide for other things regarding the Militia, but it does not say that the Militia may only do the things that Congress has provided for, or that the Militia only consists of those people Congress organizes by legislation. In fact, it says explicitly that Congress may provide for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States. That means there can be other Parts which are not so employed. Article II, Section 2 says: "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States" In other words, the President is not the Commander in Chief of the Militia all the time or of all the Militia; he is only Commander in Chief of the Militia who are in the actual Service of the United States, while they are so serving. That means there can be Militia who are not in such service, and whom the President is not the Commander in Chief of. In short, the powers the Constitution grants Congress and the President over the Militia are qualified and limited, not absolute.