Les B: The 2nd amendment to the US Constitution states that "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." This dates to 1791. Many Americans, including many of our elected leaders, choose to ignore the first two clauses and interpret it as meaning that citizens have an unfettered right to keep and bear arms. Others insist that this is only true in the context of membership in a militia organization {or the National Guard, successor organization to the local militias} and therefore may no longer be valid. Not even the Swiss require their part-time soldiers to keep their weapons at home anymore. Parties on both sides have, through the years, been very careful not to bring this question up through the levels of our legal system for a definitive determination.