Does the Second Amendment Say What We Think it Says?

The history behind the second amendment is not explicitly clear and thus, the meaning of the second amendment to the constitution of the United States is highly debatable (and is regularly debated). Let's explore the history behind it that is known and see what we can logically deduce about the people's right to have guns. First, we need to be sure that we fully understand the what the amendment literally states. The original wording goes a little something like this: "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." Never has one sentence caused so much hoopla. Okay, so let's start with the first few words: "A well regulated militia". Well regulated, according to constitution dot org, means "something being in proper working order." Dictionary dot com gave me several definitions of militia, all of which were very different from the others. Looking at the "well regulated," though, helps to distinguish exactly which definition our forefathers would have chosen if they were offered this bunch. The definition that we will use for this article, then, is "a body of citizens enrolled for military service, and called out periodically for drill but serving full time only in emergencies." This was the only definition that sense with the whole "well regulated" added onto it. That was probably done on purpose, so we wouldn't lose our way when making sense of the amendment a hundred years after it was written. The only other part of the sentence we need to explicitly understand is where the words "bear arms" comes in. Does that mean to hold guns, or to own them? Dictionary.com says that to "bear arms" means to carry weapons (specifically, firearms). So, translated, the second amendment of the constitution says this:

"A group of citizens who are eligible and available for military service and who are in proper working order (I assume both in their brains and in their bodies) are essential to keeping our country free and safe. Therefore, the right of people to own and carry firearms shall not be infringed."