THE BILL OF RIGHTS: Its Origin and Meaning

This book is an excellent reference on the Bill of Rights.

It does contain two errors of note. One in the beginning and one near the end.

He seems to say a draft is constitutional and that government can ban guns because the second amendment dealt with the militia.

He is wrong so I will copy here my words from "The People's Article."

Article the Fifth

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person.


Comment:

The militia was Citizens exercising their duty to protect their homes and country. The army, composed of poor and ignorant, who sold their freedom to the government, was not honored, as is the army of today. Fear of an overreaching army invading property and other rights created the need for the militia. (The militia purpose was to make the army not a standing or permanent one in times of peace and war.)

The right to bear arms is tied to the need of the militia but the individual right is seen when we look at the anti-draft section. The first problem was (as it is today) that a person might understand religiously scrupulous as conscientious or compelled by his religion. That argument was never answered because founders thought this might deny a Citizen his right to self-defense or to hunt and this part was dropped.

Later gun banners used the militia clause to pass unconstitutional gun laws. Sometime after the War Between the States courts have incorrectly found conscription constitutional. (Lincoln’s draft was unconstitutional according to the U.S. supreme Court.) Rights of conscience were very important and although those words did not make it into the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights, their essence are interwoven throughout.


End of "The People's Article" reference.

I believe Brant was too good an investigator to make this mistake. I believe he was ordered to or actually believed in the need for a draft and gun banning. If I had to chose, I would chose the former.