The 2nd Amendment For Flatliners

"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

What's a militia, you ask?  Let's check with one of the amendment's authors:

"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
~George Mason Co-author of the Second Amendment during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution, 1788

So kind of like soylent green, militia is people, in this case the whole (not finely ground) people.  And the part about enslaving those people by confiscating their guns is why Mr. Mason and his friends saw a need for the Second Amendment. Obviously, they saw that danger as a real possibility.  So much for the "the Second Amendment was meant to protect hunting guns" argument. Another George agrees.

"Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
~George Washington First President of the United States

Consequently, even if you think that no one *needs*  a Mossberg Model 715T, AR 15 style, .22Cal. rifle, and thus ought to be prohibited from owning one, the U.S. Constitution  as well as the men who wrote it disagree.

For some of us . . . a LOT of us, that's all that matters.

Deal with it!