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In "Note entire 2nd Amendment" (Feb. 8, Letters) the writer asserted that the language of the Second Amendment specifically authorizes regulation of arms, noting the portion that states "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state ..."
His deduction relies upon a modern interpretation of the word "regulated." If the writer were to study the Constitution and history a bit better, he would find that "regulated" was once used in what is now an obsolete way.
The intent and meaning of "well regulated" in regards to a military force, at the time the Constitution was framed, was to say "properly disciplined." See, among other historical documents, Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Paper No. 29 for a better understanding of "well regulated" in its proper historical context.
