"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 May 2007 08:16:42 GMT, (Don Pearce)
wrote:
Is it "unconstitutional" to do anything not specifically mentioned in
the constitution? Is running a car unconstitutional? Owning a
computer? Space flight?
Don't take that as a vote for gun ownership though.
Well, what it does mean is that the government would be within its
constitutional rights to ban gun ownership for any other purpose.
The whole militia argument is bogus anyway. You need a militia until
the country is sufficiently organised to maintain a specialised army.
Except the whole idea was that the federal government would NEVER maintain a
specialized army or any army in a time of peace.
There seems to be some romantic notion that a lynch-mob armed with
hunting rifles could effectively disagree with the elected government.
They certainly can, and examples exist where they were able to do so.
Which doesn't quite join up with the other American obsession -
"democracy".
Being able to do so allows one to resist an elected government gone wild,
like Nazi Germany. A popularly elected government that killed some 12
Million of it's own people.