Fallacy #2: The "well regulated Militia" refers to a government organized militia

Even with the operative clause declaring the right to keep and bear arms lies with the people, it is still important to discuss the Militia in the context of being one of the purposes for arming the people.

Well-Regulated:

The wording “well regulated” has somewhat shifted it’s primary meaning since 1787. While now the connotation of the word lends itself to mean “controlled,” well regulated then was to mean “in proper working order.” Something was said to be well regulated if it was functioning as expected, and in reference to the militia this was meaning that it was well equipped.

Sentences in the Oxford English Dictionary using this phrase can help discern the meaning of “well-regulated” during this period:

1709: “If a liberal Education has formed in us well-regulated Appetites and worthy Inclinations.”

1714: “The practice of all well-regulated courts of justice in the world.”

1812: “The equation of time … is the adjustment of the difference of time as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun dial.”

1848: “A remissness for which I am sure every well-regulated person will blame the Mayor.”

1862: “It appeared to her well-regulated mind, like a clandestine proceeding.”

1894: “The newspaper, a never wanting adjunct to every well-regulated American embryo city.”

Militia:

The Militia differs from the federal government’s Continental Army in that the Militia were independently organized citizens who fought unbound from federal government authority. The framers themselves have asserted that the militia in question is the whole of the body of citizens and distinctly separate from any federal standing army :

“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American…[T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.[12]” – Rep. Tench Coxe, 1788

“I ask, Who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.[13]” – George Mason, 1788

The legal definition of the Militia now as outlined in the United States Code, Title 10, Section 311 further highlights the general body of the public as being the Militia [14]: