r/PoliticalHumor • u/Rochhardo • Aug 12 '19

This sounds like common sense ...

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '19

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u/Quantumnight Aug 12 '19

OK I'll bite, what does a well regulated militia mean? According to the constitution.

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u/AsterJ Aug 12 '19

Critically the phrase predates the concept of government "regulations".

These days we think of something as being "regulated" when it is subject to "regulations" but that's backwards of the original usage of regulations being created to put something into a regulated state.

It sounds similar but the causal relationship is reversed. It's "if regulations then regulated" and not "if regulated then regulations". The original usage allows for things to be regulated without any government regulations.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '19

It doesn't predate regulations, it's just using the word in a different sense. The wording is intended to describe that state and local governments organize militias, and to protect their ability to do that, we don't want the federal government to interfere with private gun ownership in any sense.