Which if any of the founding fathers said that the Second Amendment should apply only to the militia and not the general populace?

Answer 1

None of them said that. All able-bodied males between 18 and 45 were the militia and expected to have suitable arms ready for use. If we still followed the intent of the Founding Fathers in the Second Amendment, there would be tanks, mortars and fighter planes in your neighbors' driveways ready to respond when the militia was called to arms.

The Second Amendment allowed for state militias on the cheep, by using citizens arms. It also was a counter balance to the power of the federal government. But the Second Amendment has been an anachronism for over 150 years. State Militias , now known as the National Guard, issue arms to its members. In addition, the most significant arms in the modern military include fighter jets, misiles, artillery, heavy weapons and such, not the kind of things most parents want floating around the neighbor. To allow anyone to own such arms by right is completely uncivilized and not the kind of world most sane people would want to raise a family in.

The previous answer about the militia is obviously made from an emotional standpoint and is nothing more than opinion.

The Federal Statute regarding militias can be found in US Code Title 10, Section 311, or 10USC311http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/HTML/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00000311----000-.HTML

TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART I > CHAPTER 13 > � 311� 311. Militia: composition and classes(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.(b) The classes of the militia are�(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

There are two classes of militia, organized (the National Guard) and unorganized (able bodied males).

The core of the issue goes back to the original question and the answer is none of the Founding Fathers intended the Second Amendment to apply only to a 'militia' or for firearms to be exclusively used for military purposes. They intended the 'people' to me armed for self defense. Those 'people' mentioned in the Second Amendment are the same 'people' mentioned in the:

Preamble of the U.S. Constitution: 'We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.'First Amendment, '...right of the people peaceably to assemble...'Fourth Amendment, 'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures...'Ninth Amendment, 'The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.'Tenth Amendment, 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.'

To claim that the Founding Fathers meant individual citizens of the U.S. in every part of the U.S. Constitution where the word 'people' is used EXCEPT in the Second Amendment where it is suppose to mean a group organized by the federal government is beyond comprehension and shows a complete and utter lack of understanding of the Constitution and of the principles that the country was founded on.