Sunday - June 29, 2008
To keep and bear - a bit of original intent
US Constitution, Article I Section 8
“The Congress shall have power to ... grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;”
What the heck does that mean?
Congress has the power to grant Letters Of Marque And Reprisal. This power allows them to write a bit of paper that can turn a privately owned boat into a warship acting on behalf of the nation.
So Congress can create what used to be called privateers. Instant Navy, just add ink to paper. Privately owned ships that are semi-pirates, but our semi-pirates. Pretty cool, but what of it?
Well, there isn’t any point to writing Letters of Marque if possession of such a letter causes a citizen to go out and have a ship built. The Navy could build the same ship in the same time. No, Letters of Marque were a bit similar to Rights of Angary in that both used pre-existing ships. But you can’t just go sticking a few dozen tons worth of iron cannon on a sailboat all willy-nilly and call it a privateer. It will either sink or tip over. Not good. Those pre-existing privately owned ships had to be designed and built from the get-go to carry cannons. And carry them they did. No one took a Letter of Marque down to the foundry and said “here’s my note, give me 3 dozen of the big ones please, plus a few tons of gunpowder”. No, those private ships were already armed.
Already armed, with privately owned cannon. Weapons of minor mass destruction. Weapons of a completely military nature. Weapons capable of, indeed designed specifically for, projecting explosive “destructive devices” with the specific intention of killing and wounding as many people as possible at one time.
Those are the kind of “arms” the Second Amendment is also talking about. Cannons similar to the privately owned ones that the British attempted to seize at Lexington and Concord. Artillery in the hands of the citizenry. Weaponry that put them on par with any standing army of the day.
Posted by Drew458
on 06/29/2008 at 02:18 PM
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •
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