@vikorr,
In fact, the first clause of the second amendment states:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, . . . One might ask what constitutes a well regulated militia, but the constitution had already defined that when the amendment was proposed. Article One, Section Eight, has a paragraph which reads:
[Congress shall have the power] . . . To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; . This gives Congress the right to legislate gun control laws, including the restriction on who may participate in the militia. In
The United States versus Miller, the Supremes upheld the National Fire Arms act of 1934, commenting in the majority opinion:
The Court cannot take judicial notice that a shotgun having a barrel less than 18 inches long has today any reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, and therefore cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees to the citizen the right to keep and bear such a weapon.
Both gun control advocates and gun nuts claim that that decision supports their positions. However, the gun lobby is pointedly ignoring the Militia Act of 1903. That act, and its subsequent amendments established the National Guard, and defined all those who were not members of State or Federal National Guards as the unorganized militia. That leaves the Congress free to regulate that unorganized militia based on their power to organize the militia.
The most pernicious influence of the gun debate is the National Rifle Association, which pours millions into congressional campaigns, especially for the House. Most members of the House will not buck the power of the NRA, because those who are not gun nuts don't care, and those who are will join the NRA in actively campaigning against any candidate who does not pass their sniff test. Nevertheless, Congress could, if they had the collective balls, regulate membership in both the organized and unorganized militia to exclude the mentally, and the other categories you have mentioned.
