“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” The first clause has always been a bit of a mystery, but any thoughtful student of Latin, (the aging altar boys on the Supreme Court probably forgot or never understood their Latin) would recognize the gerundive construction. This succinctly expresses the fitness or necessity of its subject to the rest of the sentence. The Latin gerundive creates a kind of polarity that contrasts or creates tension between one phrase and the other. Latin … Continue reading Understanding Sixteenth Century Grammar Explains the Specificity and Succinctness of the Second Amendment