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Originally Posted by strandinthewind
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It's a bit of a puzzle, that 2nd Amendment. Come, let us parse together.
The construction is what's called a nominative absolute. Using modern punctuation styles, you would write it like this:
"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep & bear arms shall not be infringed."
It's this type of sentence:
"Michelle being a sheltie lover, Paula decided to ask her to babysit her own dog."
Absolute phrases can have different purposes & different effects. Usually context helps you pin down the intent. Sometimes the absolute explains a single cause or condition, & it could be rewritten with "because":
1.
"Michelle being a sheltie lover, Paula decided to ask her to babysit her own dog." (Paula asked Michelle for her help ONLY because she's a sheltie lover.)
2.
"Because a well-regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep & bear arms shall not be infringed." (The right to bear arms shall not be infringed ONLY because a militia is necessary.)
But sometimes the absolute construction leaves open the possibility of other reasons. It suggests an attendant condition rather than -- or in addition to -- a cause.
"Michelle being a sheltie lover, Paula decided to ask her to babysit her own dog." (Paula asked Michelle for her help primarily because Michelle is a sheltie lover, but also because she had a few days free to dogsit & she's reliable.)
The right to bear arms shall not be infringed for several reasons, among them -- perhaps the most important reason, perhaps not -- the necessity of a militia.
Example in Malory (with construction inverted): "There came into his halle, he syttynge in his throne ryal." Here the absolute is merely an attendant condition, not a cause. Example in Shakespeare: "I should not seek an absent argument / Of my revenge, thou [being] present." Again, merely an attendant condition--one of many (unstated but implied) reasons.