[Vision2020] discharging firearms

Ron Force rforce2003 at yahoo.com
Sat Nov 6 16:31:23 PDT 2010


The Oxford English Dictionary has one definition of  "bear" as a verb that has a 
military implication:

    

6. To carry about with or upon one, as material equipment or ornament.    a. To 
carry about with one, or wear, ensigns of office, weapons of offence or defence. 
to bear arms against: to be engaged in hostilities with. 

a1000 Beowulf 432 Secas bron..beorhte frætwa. a1175 Lamb. Hom. 69 Crist..eue us 
wepne for to beren. c1400 MANDEVILLE vi. 64 Thei beren but o Scheld and o Spere. 
?1568 G. FERRERS in Arb. Garner IV. 179 Apt to bear arms. 1609 SKENE Reg. Maj. 
60 He bure armes, and made weir against the King. 1769 ROBERTSON Chas. V, III. 
XI. 316 An ample..pardon to all who had born arms against him. 1862 STANLEY Jew. 
Ch. (1877) I. v. 94 The staff like that still borne by Arab chiefs.

But, as I said, people differ as to the exact meaning in the Second Amendment..


 Ron Force
Moscow Idaho USA




________________________________
From: Robert Dickow <dickow at uidaho.edu>
To: Craine Kit <kcraine at frontier.com>; Garrett Clevenger 
<garrettmc at frontier.com>
Cc: vision2020_moscow.com <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Sat, November 6, 2010 3:20:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] discharging firearms

Concerning 'bearing arms' and the term 'bear,' 
while Dictionary.com may show this definition...

"22. to have and use; exercise: to bear authority; to bear sway."

I question its application in the context of 'bearing arms' to mean to 'use'
the gun. Just use 
'bear' as a substitution in a sentence and you'll see why:

"Aim high when you bear your gun". (This still refers to the posture of
holding the gun, not shooting it.).

"Don't make noise when I bear my gun at yonder rabbit." (Just doesn't make
sense.)

"Hands up, Mr., or I'll take my gun and bear it." (Also doesn't make much
sense.)

I don't think the original meaning was all that different than our sense of
it today.

Bob Dickow, troublemaker



-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Craine Kit
Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 7:12 PM
To: Garrett Clevenger
Cc: vision2020_moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] discharging firearms

Since languages change over time, perhaps the question should be "how  
was  'bear' defined when the constitution was written"?

Kit Craine


On Nov 5, 2010, at 5:12 PM, Garrett Clevenger <garrettmc at frontier.com>  
wrote:

> I got my definition at dictionary.com.  It was the last definition  
> for the verb "bear"
>
> "22. to have and use; exercise: to bear authority; to bear sway."
>
> Perhaps it's a gun lover conspiracy to change the word to fit their  
> favor?
<snip>

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