So, is he saying that he believes that Madison included the 2nd Amendment in order to get the states to ratify the Constitution, with the intention of removing it later, if he could?
If so, wouldn't that mean he negotiated with the states in bad faith, and wouldn't that make the ratification null and void?
If anything, I think this says that without the right to keep and bear arms (as well as the rest of the Bill of Rights), there IS NO NATION, and is a clear indication that governments can NOT legislate gun control.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is it not incomplete to just try to discern what the framers of the Constitution intended? Is it not also necessary to discern what the states that finally RATIFIED the Constitution believed it meant, as well?
Remember, the Bill of Rights came after the Constitution, i.e., it is a separate document which stands alone from the Constitution (I know, this is almost never considered, but it's true) and while it is loosely addressed as Amendments, which it is, it is still a separate document and should be viewed as such for good reason. That reason is something that Jefferson and Madison, among others, firmly believed; that the Bill of Rights was not amendable, that it was never to be altered or dissolved in part or in whole.
The force which resulted in the Bill of Rights was mostly the product of two of the Founders; George Mason and Patrick Henry. These two gentlemen believed that the Constitution was not complete... that it didn't go far enough in protecting the people from future potential abuses. Madison believed that that was enough in the Constitution to guarantee against such concerns but Mason and Henry held out and insisted that because there were no fundamental rights addressed in the Constitution, future congresses could pretty much do anything they wished at the expense of the people's liberty. Madison came around and became an ardent supporter of the Bill of Rights after it was drafted and went on for ratification.
The Bill of Rights is a package deal. All ten amendments are fundamental to the continuance of a free people and therefore they all must be accepted, protected, and supported. It is not a Buffet of Rights where one can say, "I like this one, but I'm not so sure about that one and I definitely don't like this other one". They all come together as one and must be considered untouchable. In our history, they have never been altered. But they have been interpreted to the point where they may as well have been altered. This is the evil and insidious method of those who would see our rights trampled and made insignificant.
It is the Bill of Rights and the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence that sets this nation apart from all the others and makes us unique in the annals of history. We are the only nation in the history of the world which at its founding, reserved such guarantees of power and authority to the people. It is this, we are rapidly forgetting and loosing and once gone, we will never see it again.