| 2A was initially presented as > The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person. Then, the next time it appeared, it was reworded as > A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; but no person religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to bear arms. Before being whittled down to nix religious exemption and leave ambiguous who runs the militia > A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Judging from the Congressional record nobody focused on the fact that the militia clause got flipped between meetings, so take from that what you will. |