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.

Those are the words of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

They were, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights and Constitution, written with simple wording to make it easy to understand by the populace.  That simplicity is also there to prevent the bastardization of its intent by those who would come later.

The bastardization has happened, despite the clear language.

The English language has clear rules in place, including the use of commas.  Those commas found in the Second Amendment make clear the intent.

The intent was for the state and people to have guaranteed rights that the federal government cannot touch.

It is an Amendment protecting the states and the people as individuals.  Not one or the other, but both.

When the attacks come that the Second Amendment is not an individual right, but the right of the national guards, they are mostly wrong.  The National Guards of the states are included, along with other types of state militias and the individuals.  The "shall not be infringed" part protects both from the federal government.

Well regulated does not mean government-controlled.  It means to meet regularly to practice in case such groups are needed by the states they serve.

The federal government has two definitions for militias.  10 U.S. Code 246 has the exact wording:

Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are—

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and

(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

Both organized and unorganized militias are protected.  Unorganized militias include every able-bodied adult not in an organized militia.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is distinct from the militias.  Even though able-bodied adults are required for the militias, it is not a requirement for the people.

Had the people been limited to the militias, it would have been worded as such.

It is also important to note the clear reference to the people rather than men or white men.  There is no distinction among races or between sexes in the wording.

One of the common attacks on those who founded the nation was that they provided liberty only to white men.  The Second Amendment, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, when not protecting the states, disproves that attack.  It is always referred to as the people.

The Second Amendment is both a state and individual protection from the federal government and other governments regarding attempts at disarming the population.  It is an equal protection under the law for all who choose to be armed without exception.

That is the reason the Supreme Court has ruled several times that it is an individual right.  It's not just a state right.

Many claim to know what the Second Amendment says without ever having read it for themselves.  They blindly accept that it references only state militias.  They have no idea what it actually refers to, or the different types of militias.  They have been told and simply accept it.

It is the only amendment where the first part is chosen and the rest ignored.  If that were the case, which it is not, the First Amendment would be only a protection for religious freedom.  That is the first of several rights included.  Anyone who has read it knows that it was referring to religious freedom and other individual freedoms, like the press, which is distinct from religious freedom.

Bob Ryan is a writer who has an MBA.  He is an American Christian Zionist who staunchly supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.  He has been a weekly blogger at the Times of Israel since 2019.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.