ANOTHER School Shooting - 5 Dead

[David]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Grammatically, it is not in the Constitution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_...s_Constitution

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.