From: [g--y] at [parka.winternet.com] (William Gray)
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy,alt.law-enforcement,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: Pro-Gun Jews Support LARRY PRATT
Date: 1 Mar 96 13:41:51 GMT

[b--e] at [boi.hp.com] (Bob Evans) writes:

>       Professor Pitcavage was discussing the use of the term
>       "well-regulated" in the militia context. He still insists
>       that it pertains to "gov't control" rather than the 
>       classical meaning "in good working order".
>       Hope this helps ....

Pitcavage is wrong.  Here is my standard post on the meanings of
"well-regulated" and "militia" at the time the Amendment was adopted:

Let's see how "well-regulated" and "militia" were used in the Framers' day.
The dictionary used is the Oxford English Dictionary, an absolute
masterpiece of scholarship.  Users unfamiliar with it should consult
a reference librarian about its reliability.

1. well-regulated

well-'regulated, ppl. a. 

       1709 Shaftesb. Moralists ii. iv. 108 If a liberal Education has
form'd in us..well-regulated Appetites, and worthy Inclinations. 

       1714 R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. ii. 250 The practice of all well
regulated courts of justice in the world. 

       1812 J. Joyce Sci. Dial., Astron. xii. II. 126 The equation of
time..is the adjustment of the difference of time, as shown by a
well-regulated clock and a true sun-dial.

       1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lviii, A remissness for which I am
sure every well-regulated person will blame the Major. 

       1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. i. v. 27 It appeared, to her
well-regulated mind, like a clandestine proceeding. 

       1894 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 165 The newspaper, a never wanting
adjunct to every well-regulated American embryo city.

militia 4. b.  U.S.  "The whole body of men declared by law to be amenable
to military service, without enlistment, whether armed and drilled or not."
(Cent. Dict. 1890).  Cites given of the word militia used in this sense
include the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8: "Congress shall
have power...to provide for calling forth the militia."

Hence we see that "well-regulated militia" is NOT the National Guard,
but the neighborhood men, whether enlisted or not, armed or not, and
drilled or not.

It was to keep that group from being DISarmed that the Second Amendment
was written and ratified.

Regards,

Bill
--
"Veni, vidi, vomiti!"  The ghost of Thomas Jefferson on reading the Brady Law.
[g--y] at [winternet.com]