The Second Amendment

"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."

The paragraph consists of two clauses, related in concept, to be sure.  The first clause pertains to citizens able to form lawful militias; the second clause pertains to citizens having the right to possess and carry arms.

Those opposed to the Second amendment lump the two clauses together in order to restrict the citizen's right to own hand guns and rifles.  Their argument being that the Second Amendment only allows for forming a National Guard or a State sponsored militia.

Since the Amendments were written to restrict the State's powers the argument that the Second Amendment empowers the State to form a state militia doesn't make much sense.  However, when you read The Declaration of Independence the reason for the Second Amendment becomes clear;  the People have the right to form a non-State militia in order to throw off a despotic or tyrannical government gone awry.

I am not proposing forming militias to go against our present government; we have plenty of resources legally to protest any abuses made by our government or others.  Voting is probably the strongest power available to us--provided the public is well informed.  Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation being propagated.