Found in an article in the Christian Science Monitor at http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/06/20/fp3s1-csm.shtml
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"There was no real serious discussion in the 18th century about an individual right to bear arms free of the regulation of the state," because firearms of the 18th century "were not very useful weapons," says Jack Rakove, a historian at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
"The framers couldn't imagine the debate we're having right now," he says. "If you wanted to kill someone, you were better off grabbing an ax or a knife than a gun."[/quote]
Anyone want to tell that to all the dead native Americans?
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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.
-- Edmund Burke
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"There was no real serious discussion in the 18th century about an individual right to bear arms free of the regulation of the state," because firearms of the 18th century "were not very useful weapons," says Jack Rakove, a historian at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
"The framers couldn't imagine the debate we're having right now," he says. "If you wanted to kill someone, you were better off grabbing an ax or a knife than a gun."[/quote]
Anyone want to tell that to all the dead native Americans?
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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.
-- Edmund Burke
A blackpowder rifle is damn good weapon! The framers IMHO did not even consider things like technology because the PRINCIPLES they were trying to lay down would not be affected by technology. The right of the people to be secure in their freedom was a very important idea. The right of the people to keep and bear arms to defend their liberty is something that is the same today as it was then. This idea that the framers would not have written the second amendment if they had any idea of what technology was going to be like in two hundred years is DONKEY DUST!!
