Going back to my original posting, I am asking the "Founding Fathers" intent in the Second Amendment, not what I "feel" or "my opinion" or "based on my experience". I want to know from a "strict constructionist" point of view, if we agree that the Founders believed in an armed citizenry, capable of providing a counter to an oppressive government. I believe it is clear that the Founders, I can post more quotes if I need to, were speaking of resistance to government tyranny, not my neighbor breaking in my barn in the Second Amendment.

Apparently, we are so caught up in modern arguments regarding the Second Amendment that we have forgotten and do not adhere to its original meaning. The Founders believed the citizenry had to be a "threat" to the federal government's over-reaching and that if necessary, the entire adult male population should turn out to resist it.

We have argued so long about the home and property self-defense reasons for the Second Amendment, which are not referenced in the Federalist Papers, at least, that we can't seem to be able to discuss it without these modern influences. I presume it is frightening to a modern generation to ponder the attitudes of our forefathers. They hated the intrusion and distrusted the ultimate goals of a large central government. What we have today in Washington, if because of nothing else than its scale and size, would be heartbreaking to them.

The Second Amendment is primarily NOT about defending your life, home and property from your fellow citizens. It is about the citizenry protecting themselves from the government and sees an armed citizenry as a deterrent to war, rather than the cause of one.

Should not adult, law-abiding citizens have considerable rights in the ownership of weapons? If a Swiss or Israeli can be trusted with an assault weapon, why can not a law-abiding American own one? If one argues that these people are military trained or in the reserve, did not the Founding Fathers consider the entire adult male population a U.S. militia?

I repeat would our Founding Fathers have advocated an "assault weapons ban" based on the documentation of the period and their statements regarding the Second Amendment?

Jim