(02-23-2022, 09:43 PM)Jags Wrote:

(02-23-2022, 04:24 PM)mikesez Wrote: I've read the constitutions of all of the original 13 states.  Connecticut and Rhode Island didn't bother amending their royal charters prior to adopting the US Constitution in 1788.  That gives you 11 founding documents to potentially explain what is meant by the right of the people to keep and bear arms.  8 of these constitutions do not mention any right to bear arms. Virginia's implies that the public in general should not have arms.  

The remaining 3 are NC, PA, and MA.  Here are their statements:

• NC: XVII. That the people have a right to bear arms, for the defence of the State; and, as standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
  
• PA: XIII. That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; And that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
  
• MA: Art. XVII. The people have a right to keep and to bear arms for the common defence. And as, in time of peace, armies are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be maintained without the consent of the legislature; and the military power shall always be held in an exact subordination to the civil authority and be governed by it.
  

If you want to dig deeper, all 13 states derived the idea of their right to keep and bear arms from the English Bill of Rights of 1689:

• That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
  

None of these four excerpts says or implies anything about any ability to resist or overthrow tyranny. 
So, do you have any links to actual meeting minutes or transcripts or contemporaneous essays that might contradict me?

Out of curiosity, wouldn’t you want to resist tyranny?

Absolutely. Tyrants have been overthrown with pitchforks, but, ever since guns were introduced, people have needed to have at least some guns to keep tyrants away for more than a week or two.  Guns are critical, but you don't necessarily need the same or better guns that the army has in order to resist a future US tyrant.  Remember, if stuff starts hitting the fan, either the army is going to defect into two competing armies, and it will be obvious which of the two you should join up with to protect your rights, or they'll open up the armory so we can all resist the invaders together.  You don't need military grade stuff now.  It will be available to you pretty quickly if you do need it though.

---