| 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 Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
I'm not a U.S. constitutional expert, nor even particularly well-read on U.S. constitutional history, but I do wish to raise a question that's been rather niggling for some time now.
Historically -- and we're going back to the early Middle Ages, in Europe, say the 11th c. -- the phrase "the right to bear arms" specifically refers to the right of the nobility to own and carry "arms," as in "a coat of". It has nothing to do with weaponry.
The peasantry didn't carry swords or "noble weapons" because of cost, not because they weren't allowed to under the law. This is why most peasant militias consisted of doughty tenants carrying grain flails (where the military flail originated) or pitchforks (where the military fork originated). It was simply a matter of applying a farming tool to use in war. Besides, the villeins and cottars knew how to handle the farm implements.
I'm under the impression that Founding Fathers were quite well educated, so I'm not sure they made a mistake when they used "the right to bear arms" in the Amendment. Were they trying to be clever and wanted to use a turn of phrase?
Everytime I hear or read about the Second Amendment, I expect U.S. citizens everywhere to rush down to their local College of Heralds to apply for a coat of arms. :) | 
