re: Does the 2nd Ammendment really exist today in the way it was intended?

Yeah but that whole State Militia thing didn't work at all in 1812.

One major purpose of the 2dA was so the US would not have a standing army. Madison and Jefferson were adamant that authoritarian governments stem from a standing army.

Madison's original 2A, which was actually his 5th amendment said:

...a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country...

But Patrick Henry objected to the word "country". Virginia's militia was also their slave patrol, and he feared if they were off fighting in some other state, the VA slaves could rise up and kill their owners. So it was changed to "State".

Eventually, Jefferson was elected POTUS, and put his money where his mouth was regarding a standing army. His peacetime army was cut from 5,400 to 3,300, and the navy was slashed to just 7 frigates.

Then Madison was President, and he convinced Congress to declare war on Britain. The army was ill prepared, the State Militias looked after their own territory, and the Brits marched right into DC and burned it down.

The US eventually prevailed, but went to having a strong standing army, although they didn't call it that.

So, I don't think the 2A ever existed as originally intended particularly since the whole State militia plan proved fruitless.

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It hasn’t existed in the way it was intended since 1865

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FIFY

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It hasn’t existed in the way it was intended since 1934

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Battle of Athens, TN, 1946

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It's been 250 years. Nothing in the original constituion exists in the way that it was intended exactly. Our forefathers were smart, but they weren't time travelers.

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Wrong. The constitution is based on principals that where learned over the course of time.

The simple answer is no because the 2nd Amendment is part of the constitution, and the constitution no longer exists.

Have you challenged any of the "Red Flag" laws?

I'm pretty sure the framers never visualized the way the Second would be abused in our own time, with young men barging into school houses and Bible study groups brandishing and fully discharging military grade assault rifles on a defenseless crowd of people.

This isn't the America of 1789, folks.

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I'm pretty sure the framers never visualized the way the Second would be abused in our own time, with young men barging into school houses and Bible study groups brandishing and fully discharging military grade assault rifles on a defenseless crowd of people.

This isn't the America of 1789, folks.

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Lol there you have it from the board Marxist

Tarzana wants the government to have all the guns, and unlike the church shooter in his hypothetical governments never use guns for nefarious purposes.

Right Tarzana????

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Does the 2nd Ammendment really exist today in the way it was intended?

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Absolutely not. It was originally intended to apply ONLY to the fedgov. That is to say - explicitly - the states were free to regulate/ban guns as they saw fit.

Many decades later, the process of "incorporation" of certain of the bill of rights began...leading to today's basically full incorporation (i.e. making it apply to the states as well).

This is one bit of major court activism the "conservative originalists" sure don't seem to mind!