A well regulated militia?

[TeddyR]

37. I'd like to see some support

For the argument that "the people" and "the Militia" mean the same thing. I mean, support from legal authority would be nice, other than your misreading of Story. That is simply a silly proposition that is contrary to every tenet of statutory/constitutional construction. Courts give the same words the same meaning when interpreting statutes/constitutions, they don't say "people" means one thing in one section and another thing in a different section, and they don't say two completely different words with different meanings -- like "people" and "Militia" mean the same thing. Do you think "the people" in the Fourth Amendment are only the militia? And if the authors of the Second Amendment mean to protect the right of "the Militia" why didn't they limit the protection provided by the Second Amendment to "the Militia"? Do you think they didn't know how to do that, or maybe were confused?

With respect to the Story quote, yes, I added the piece you left out. And he is not equating the people with the militia. He is saying an armed populace can prevent despotism, he doesn't say a "militia" prevents despotism. But that doesn't really matter, since Heller established that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual one completely divorced from militia service.