Quote Originally Posted by KestrelBike View Post
The 46th Federalist Paper is the end-all-be-all to the meaning and origin of the Second Amendment. If you'll remember, the Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. They wrote it when the 13 states/colonies were united under the Articles of Confederation, but the country was going nowhere fast, and they needed a central government for various reasons. To convince the common people (and politicians of the day) of the need for what would shortly be the Constitution, they wrote ~85 articles in just under a year (so that's almost 2 serious articles a week) in the different newspapers of America.

Here's a choice excerpt from the 46th (by James Madison): Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_No._46

It's not about self-defense from burglars, it's not about hunting or sporting clays, it is about every citizen being armed against a domestic (or foreign) tyrannical government. January 29th should be a holiday celebrated by every 2A supporter.
I agree! Having only read a handful of the Federalist Papers, I see a common theme here- our founders were onto something new, original, and still relevant to this day. Don't believe me? Look at places like NYC... All it would take is one nutjob in office to decide- oh wait, that already happened during Bloomberg's time.

I love Bill's closing line. Comparing the 1st to the 2nd is always a great route when debating idiot antis on the relevance and modern usage of the 2nd Amendment.