[mistercheph]

The prefatory clause of the 2nd amendment does not require a well-regulated militia to be in existence in order for the right to be protected, it expresses the motivation and then declares the right uninfringeable:

"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."

Maybe you'd be happier if it said:

"The right of the people to keep and bear Arms while they are members of a well-regulated militia shall not be infringed."

I am sympathetic to both sides of the jurispredential pragmatism/literalism question, but don't get your eggs twisted about what the 2nd amendment says, as only the most alien of consciousnesses could find ambiguity in its terse declaration.

[FireBeyond]

The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed because a well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of the free State.

So maybe we need the well regulated Militia, because that seems absent, though the Constitution says it is necessary.

[mr_toad]

The US already has an organised militia, it’s called (in honour of a Frenchman) the National Guard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_Act_of_1903