Originally Posted by
Dr. Who
I think its purpose is for the maintenance of a well-regulated Militia to secure a free State. While many like to believe it preserves the people's right to revolt, I would offer the Civil War as an argument against that notion. I would not seem that there is a clear Constitutional right to take up arms against the government. I would say it was in order to preserve America against the imperialism of foreign states. Notably, both Militia and State are capitalized, people is not. If its purpose was intended to preserve American independence from foreign takeover, then it is currently an anachronism, since only a modern military could undertake that kind of defense today.