“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This is one of the most argued over and divisive Constitutional Amendments in the last 20+ years. The Second Amendment of the United States of America is the amendment in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution, that dictates that the people of this nation are allowed to carry arms, but what are arms exactly?

            According to Dictionary.com “arms” means 1. Weapons collectively, 4. Bear arms: a – to carry weapons, b – to serve in the armed forces, or c – to have a coat of arms. So under these two parts of the definition, we understand this to mean that weapons as a category and that bear arms means to carry weapons. Now that we have that definition, we have to ask what it is a militia?

            Again, according to Dictionary.com “militia” means 1. A body of citizens enrolled for military service and called out periodically for drill but serving full time in emergencies. 2. A body of citizen soldiers as distinguished from professional soldiers. 3. All able-bodied males considered by law eligible for military service. 4. A body of citizens organized in a paramilitary group and typically regarding themselves as defenders of individual rights against the presumed interference of the federal government. Well that is a mouthful.

            Parts one and two of this definition refers to, as most Americans will agree I assume, that the militia means the National Guards and Reserves. I, however, would like to focus on the third part of this definition as it pertains to the vast majority of Americans and they may not know, or if they do they think it will not pertain to them personally. Why do a I want to focus on this part?

            Simple, The Selective Service System. The Selective Service System (SSS) is the means by which all able-bodied males between the ages of 18-26 must register to receive benefits such as student financial aid, most federal employment, a security clearance for contractors, and citizenship for men immigrating before they are 26 years old. I, myself, registered and filled out my card and turned it into the USPS office in my hometown back in March of 1999 and it still took about 5 months for the registration to be approved. I was on day 8 of Navy RTC when my registration was granted. And because we are required to sign up for the potential of being drafted into the military, we are a militia.

            Now note that this only applies to “men” not women, not trans-men, but it does apply to trans-women as well, as this is based on gender assigned at birth, or biological sex. What does this have to do with the Second Amendment? It has to do with the fact that we, as citizens of the United States (especially those who must sign up for SSS), are a militia by definition. We are therefore supposed to be able to keep and bear arms. Does that mean that we should have military grade weapons like tanks, submarines (I would love to have one), or nuclear weapons? Of course not. Does it mean that we should be capable of have military grade weapons like full automatic rifles, pistols, machine guns, and the like?

That is debatable especially in light of the mass shootings that happen all to frequently in this country. I would, personally, trust an overwhelming majority of Americans with these weapons, no questions asked. Why? Most citizens would only ever use them for target practice and self-defense against that which they fear and should fear, their government.

            Yes, that sounds like a conspiracy theory, the government turning tyrannical and taking away the rights of the people. Yet we have people arguing that abortions are a “right” and having the legal case Roe v. Wade being overturned recently. Threats of violence over this “right” being overturned is okay because the government is being tyrannical. So, if the government can be tyrannical when it comes to a judicially legislative right, why can the government not be tyrannical with other rights?

            That is just it, the government can be tyrannical on other rights. Look at how the government was tyrannical in the South of the United States post-Civil War era, post-Reconstruction. We had segregation of African Americans and European-Americans up until the 1960’s Civil Rights Act. Even now one could argue that there still are remnants with redlining cities and towns. This is but one example of what tyranny can look like.

            Looking back at the founding of this country and the current government style we have; we have the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Its original intent was to improve the Articles of Confederation, the then ruling document of our fledgling nation, not out right replace it. Yet, they did replace it as they saw that it would not and could not work to keep the nation whole. After they wrote it and it was being sent to the States to ratify we had John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton writing The Federalist Papers that were used to explain why we needed the Constitution and the subsequent Bill of Rights that are the guiding framework of our nation.

In regards to the militia and arms, Publis (Hamilton) wrote in Federalist No. 29; “This will not only lessen the call for military establishments, but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens.” Let us heed that the fact if we should have a standing army, it should fear the citizenry if they try to take by force the rights that are afforded as inalienable and expounded on as our nation grows.

            Let me get back to the point of the militia and the definitions in relation to the Second Amendment that I quoted at the beginning of this piece. It is easy for us to see that active military as just that ACTIVE. We also have the National Guards and Reserve units for the various branches of the active military and are largely seen as our current standard of militia. There, however, two more levels of service, one we have touched upon, and the other we have not.

            The SSS is a militia that consists of all able-bodied, biological men between the ages of 18 and 26. These are the lowest form of militia in the country as they have no formal training in the military and are there to be draft and trained when the country needs them. The form of militia above them is the Inactive Ready Reserve, or IRR. They are former enlisted members that fulfilled a minimum contract of service, generally four years, and have additional time contracted to be recalled at a moment’s notice.

            The IRR is there to serve as a buffer group to fill rolls as the SSS personnel are being sent off to training. Most often IRR is only used when specific jobs are low in personnel count and not enough are being recruited to fill the outgoing bodies. This is why in the Navy, if you want to guarantee your IRR number will never be called go in as a Hospital Corpsman. Ok, I joke but only because of how bottlenecked that rating is.

            It is because of these staggered levels that we have still the right as ordinary citizens to keep and bear arms. It is also why we should not be so quick to give up that right regardless of where you live. Our ability to own and use firearms is fundamental to keep our other Constitutional rights from being infringed upon. “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin.

            We, as citizens, have not just the First Amendment to defend us from the potential tyranny of the government, but we also have the Second Amendment to enforce the First. That does not mean that we can actively use the Second Amendment to encroach on the rights of others, it instead means that the government cannot and should not encroach on our rights to defend ourselves from the government and others who mean us harm, both foreign and domestic.