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is analogous to free speech, limiting publications to manual printing presses.

The exceptionally clear meaning was that a citizen should be armed with the standard weapon carried by an infantryman. Today, that would be a fully-automatic assault rifle - a 5.56 mm machine gun that fires over 700 rounds per minute. Private machine gun ownership requires a specific federal permit that involves a transfer tax, submission of ATF Form 4, passport photos, fingerprints on an FBI form, and notification to local law enforcement officials. And it is limited to weapons manufactured and registered before May 19, 1986.

During my first week of college, we each were issued a fully-functioning M-14, on which we familiarized (shooting not for record) before qualifying on the newer M-16s. The downside was having to keep them spotless.

Any reasonable reading of the founders' intent is that the British weren't the only potential target. Jefferson's "consent of the governed" also means the ability to look inward. But today, armed citizens, even with M-4s, would likely have zero chance of success against our Army & federalized National Guard - and even less versus our Marines.