What is the Militia?
One of the most common arguments gun-prohibitionists use is that
the term "militia" in the Second Amendment refers to
States' right to maintain an army -- that is, the National Guard.
We all know better, and here's proof. Following is a scan from
the 1771 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. You can see a
scan of the whole page, plus the cover page, in PDF format here.
The definition of militia reads:
MILITIA, in general, denotes the body of soldiers,
or those who make profession of arms.
.....In a more restrained sense,
militia denotes the trained bands of a town or country, who
arm themselves, upon a short warning, for their own defence.
So that, in this sense, militia is opposed to regular or stated
.....For the direction and command
of the militia, the king constitutes lords-lieutenants of each
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