The Militia vs. The Standing Army: Does the Distinction Matter?
Within the debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment, a lot of attention gets paid to the phrase “well-regulated militia.” Most of the time, the focus is on whether or not this phrase infers a collective right, or explains the need for the individual right to...
Refuting the “Second Amendment Protected Slavery” Argument Part III: Ratifying the Bill of Rights
With the Constitution ratified by the necessary states in 1788, it officially became the supreme law of the land in the states so ratifying. Up until this point in the story, there wasn’t a single piece of direct, or even indirect evidence, of a concerted effort to...
Refuting the “Second Amendment Protected Slavery” Argument Part II: The Virginia Ratifying Convention
Note: This is the second in a three-part series examining a pro-slavery interpretation of the Second Amendment that persists to this day. You can read part 1 HERE. The Hidden History of the Second Amendment by law professor Carl T. Bogus argued that James...