Because pretending we knew what was in the minds of dozens
Posted on: March 11, 2021 at 12:02:12 CT
DHighlander NWMSU
Posts:
48349
Member For:
16.22 yrs
Level:
User
M.O.B. Votes:
0
of different people two hundred and fifty years ago is a fool's errand?
That is the devil's advocate response.
I personally take an originalist view of the document. But with the qualifier that the words mean exactly what they say not what people today decide they were thinking at that time.
'..the people's right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed' means that people have an unfettered right to keep and bear arms, of all kinds. If we believe that personal ownership of an M1 Battle Tank is a bad idea the founders left us the ability to change the Constitution.
I think the constitution is living because we have the mechanisms in place to adapt it to our current needs not because we have the ability to change its meaning at will.