Article 17 was an extention to the Article 1 right - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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Clue for the Court?

Submitted by jcr, Nov 27, 2007 15:41

John Adams, author of the Massachusettes Constitution, and its included Declaration of Rights, wrote in Article 1: "... the right of ... defending their lives and liberties; that of ... protecting property; ... that of seeking and obtaining their safety ...". It is unthinkable that he wrote this while assuming that the state goverment had the authority to take away the arms necessary for these purposes. His Article 17 extended the assumed right. He was saying the the people even had the right to arms when gathered together in a militia -- a much bigger threat to governments.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
Of course, the state and federal constittions are not the same document, but Maine's would be hard to misinterpret with... [MORE]	isirajo	Nov 27, 2007 20:54
John Adams, author of the Massachusettes Constitution, and its included Declaration of Rights, wrote in Article 1: "... the right...	jcr	Nov 27, 2007 15:41
As a Jewess in the US, I just want to ask: Shouldn't we ALL put our precious 2nd Amendment FIRST?... [MORE]	Wendy Weinbaum	Nov 27, 2007 13:20
Ultimately,the Supreme Court gains nothing by re-reading the Massachusetts State Constitution. Their source document for consideration in this case is... [MORE]	terry albertson	Nov 27, 2007 09:59
i've pushed the answer on every person i know,the n.r.a.,glenn beck and my state's elected offices.i found the answer.this case... [MORE]	scott cockrell	Nov 27, 2007 04:35
I believe the Founding Fathers meant, "What is true of every member of the society, individually, is true of them... [MORE]	John Ebanks	Nov 26, 2007 23:04
The U.S. Senate actually debated adding "for the common defence" to the Second Amendment, and chose not to do so.... [MORE]	Clayton E. Cramer	Nov 26, 2007 13:32
If the framers of the constitution wanted to protect only an armies right to bear arms, there would be no... [MORE]	brokenbarrel	Nov 26, 2007 12:34
The Second Amendment is deliberately different from the Massachusetts constitution regarding the very phrase you mention. On September 9, 1789,... [MORE]	Professor Joseph Olson	Nov 26, 2007 12:22
Everywhere in the articles, people means just that, PEOPLE. There were no standing militias, only farmers and storekeepers running to... [MORE]	chuck higgins	Nov 26, 2007 08:53

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