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Page Number: 111.0

44 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER 

STEVENS, J., dissenting 

English  guarantee,  Brief  for  United  States  in  United 
States v. Miller, O. T. 1938, No. 696, pp 12–13; it also cited 
Blackstone, id., at 9, n. 2, Cooley, id., at 12, 15, and Story, 
id., at 15.  The Court is reduced to critiquing the number 
of pages the Government devoted to exploring the English 
legal  sources.  Only  two  (in  a  brief  21  pages  in  length)!
Would the Court be satisfied with four?  Ten? 

The  Court  is  simply  wrong  when  it  intones  that  Miller 
contained  “not  a  word”  about  the  Amendment’s  history. 
Ante,  at  52.  The  Court  plainly  looked  to  history  to  con­
strue the term “Militia,” and, on the best reading of Miller, 
the  entire  guarantee  of  the  Second  Amendment.  After 
noting  the  original  Constitution’s  grant  of  power  to  Con­
gress  and  to  the  States  over  the  militia,  the  Court  ex­
plained: 

“With obvious purpose to assure the continuation and
render  possible  the  effectiveness  of  such  forces  the
declaration  and  guarantee  of  the  Second  Amendment 
were  made.    It  must  be  interpreted  and  applied  with 
that end in view. 

“The  Militia  which  the  States  were  expected  to
maintain  and  train  is  set  in  contrast  with  Troops
which  they  were  forbidden  to  keep  without  the  con­
sent of Congress.  The sentiment of the time strongly
disfavored  standing  armies;  the  common  view  was
that  adequate  defense  of  country  and  laws  could  be
secured  through  the  Militia—civilians  primarily,  sol­
diers on occasion. 

“The signification attributed to the term Militia ap­
pears from the debates in the Convention, the history 
and  legislation  of  Colonies  and  States,  and  the  writ­
ings of approved commentators.”  Miller, 307 U. S., at 
178–179. 

The  majority  cannot  seriously  believe  that  the  Miller 
Court did not consider any relevant evidence; the majority