> I just do not understand
> all that silly infatuation with the "founding fathers"
> and what they thought and wrote.
I can't say I disagree, but I do find the politics of the founding period interesting because people were arguing not just over policy, but over the very structure of government; not an opportunity that arises very often. As to the second amendment, it is interesting to note that both state control of effective militias and an individual right to bear arms were in the air at the time. So, for instance, the Federal Farmer, a middling anti-federalist, argued that "It is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught, alike, especially when young, how to use them." But he also claimed, "A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves, and render regular troops in a great measure unnecessary."
It is clear that the main concern of the anti-federalists was the prospect of a permanent standing army raised by Article 1, Section 8 Paragraph 12 and the right of the federal government to take charge of state militias in 1-8-16. In this light, the 2nd Amendment is one of the weakest responses to anti-federalist complaints provided by the Bill of Rights. In any case, anti-federalist hopes on this score have long since gone by the boards. Effective citizen militias lasted only a short time, we now have the largest standing army in the world, and our state governments and their professional police forces are far beyond any anti-federalist's worst nightmare.
All that said (and getting back to the original discussion), there is something slightly ominous about a law designed specifically to allow the rounding up of guns during a "national emergency." But if it came right down to it, I doubt that such a law would have any real impact on the effectiveness of resistance.
Eric
PS To anyone interested in the issue of the 2nd amendment in the founding period, I would recommend Saul Cornell's " A well-regulated militia : the founding fathers and the origins of gun control in America"(2006). You can read a review at H-Net - http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=26921176319203