When it comes to the creation, interpretation and, ultimately, the enforcement of laws wording is everything. The anti-gun crowd understands this quite well and has invested considerable effort in the analysis of the language of the Second Amendment. They are hell bent on using semantics to make the Constitution meet their needs despite knowing that these needs in no way match the original intent of the founding fathers who all to a man believed in the natural right of self-preservation (against Man, beast or tyranny) and the requisite ownership of weaponry that allows one to satisfy that right.

Because of this indifference to historical record and actual intent, one could consider the anti-gun efforts to be flawed if not evil.

The logic applied definitely is.

The most cherished argument of those against guns is their belief, based upon their bastardization of the wording, that the right to bear arms is a collective one and not a singular one. To make this point, they have focused on the words "the people", citing the usage of the word as being based in multiples. Hence, they believe the Constitution implies the need of an armed protective force (police or military) that looks out for the people as a whole, rather than each and every one of us sharing the same responsibility.

By picking apart language of the Second Amendment and looking at it as a stand-alone law independent of the rest of the Constitution these souls have ignored how it fits into the whole scheme of things and how this law, no, this right, should be appropriately interpreted. The amendment is properly written and, therefore, non-controversial as long as one looks at how its language is used in the rest of the Constitution.

The maligned "the people" appears throughout the original document, also showing up in amendments 1, 4, 9, and 10. The phrase is used in the same fashion on every occasion. If it were to be looked at in the collective sense every time our nation would be very short on personal rights.

Were the anti-gun version to be used on the First Amendment (freedom of speech) you could not stand up and make your voice heard at a legislative meeting, participate in a protest, or hold a concerned citizens meeting. Instead, you would have to allow the government to call together such an action and then your voice could not be yours, it would have to mirror that of the collective.

If it were applied to the Fourth Amendment (protection from unreasonable search and seizure) that right would be utterly nonsensical. It is universally understood that "the people" in this case applies to the rights of the individual, as it is he or she being searched and owns the houses and properties made note of. Usage of the collective style of "the people" here would negate all rights to both personal security and property. Everything in this nation would be based in communal, at-large ownership.

The phrase’s appearance in – and the continued ignorance of - the Ninth Amendment shows what happens if a Constitutional right is denied, just as the anti-gun folk want it. The founding fathers rightly knew there are assumed inalienable rights not called-out or covered by the Constitution (like freedom to privacy) that every person has, rights that were granted to us naturally, be it through the play of the universe or at the controlling hand of God. The Ninth was intended to prevent the government from becoming our world’s controlling power, something like a God State that would steal or override our natural rights. It didn’t stop the government from doing just that: Today’s modern United States is nothing like intended and something in defiance of the rights of the individual which are the rights of "the people".

This affront to natural, personal and Constitutional rights occurred because the Supreme Court interpreted the meaning and the language of the Ninth Amendment in self-serving ways it saw fit.

That is the same tactic the anti-gun crowd wants to use. They want to twist and turn the language of our nation’s Bible to fit their needs, even though their needs don’t jibe with those of all Americans, collectively and singularly, philosophically and realistically.