Look closely at the Second Amendment: It was directed at militias.

Date published: 3/1/2006

By RON MILLER

I SHOULD SAY at the outset that I believe that I have a right to own a gun and I do own one. But I don't think that the Second Amendment unequivocally guarantees me that right. Let me explain.

There weren't too many things that frightened the Founding Fathers, but two or three subjects made them very nervous. One was the idea of a state religion. They'd seen the misery caused by the establishment of an "official" faith in other countries and had no desire to see it reproduced here. Another thing that gave them the fantods was the notion of a standing army. "How dangerous it might be," wrote Massachusetts Gov. John Winthrop in 1638, "to erect a standing authority of military men which might easily in time overthrow the civil power."

"Standing armies," ran the decree disbanding the Continental Army after the Revolution, "in time of peace are inconsistent with the principles of a free people, and generally converted into destructive engines for establishing despotism."

Knowing the strong feelings of the Founding Fathers on this matter makes it seem less odd to find no provision in the original Constitution for an army. What the Founding Fathers had high hopes for in case of a national emergency was that everyone would drop what they were doing, grab a rifle from over the fireplace, and rush to the aid of their country.

They were much too idealistic, however. A civilian militia simply doesn't work--and never has. The problem is divided between self-interest and lack of discipline. The average militiaman, the Founding Fathers discovered, would head back for his farm as soon as the immediate emergency was over--or sooner, if he thought his farm or family needed him. And the citizen-soldier felt no qualms about deciding he'd had enough in the midst of a battle. Gen. St. Clair suffered a devastating defeat from the Indians in 1791 when his Kentucky militia fled en masse. It was not until Von Steuben instilled discipline and drill into the American Regulars during the Revolutionary War that they were able to stand up to the British in the open field.

In spite of the victories that resulted, the Continental Army was effectively abolished after the war, with only an army of 80 privates retained, and no officers with a rank above captain.

Date published: 3/1/2006