Does the right to bear arms include swords?

Words mean things. Sometimes, definitions change. Arms at the time when the constitution was written implied those arms which one personally carried (e.g., musket, pistol, swords, dagger). Ordnance included cannon and mortar. The inherent right to bear arms and the preservation of the common law right to self defense did not include the right to bear ordnance. I don’t know anything about the laws of today. Its illegal to the constitution to collect federal tax, but they do that anyways.

Swords came up in a similar type of conversation between me and a friend. We were simply talking about how you would react to someone carrying a sword (run away or stare in awe being the overal decision)

But you know I never thought of the constitutional side of it though.. It is a weapon of self defense I suppose, and it might give someone else a fair chance in a fight (seeing as how you cannot hide a sword on your persons very easily). I think it’s essentially a really big knife, so if you feel better with it then so be it (you’d look pretty cool too)

I don’t think bears can hold swords. Their paws are WAY too big!

@buckyboy28: I always thought we should have the right to arm bears.

Do you plan to use your sword as part of a well-regulated militia?

@Samurai only your last link worked :( and I was hoping to see an army of penguins

why not just carry round an actual bears arm, sounds like a joke. but i bet if you hit someone with a severed bear arm it would do some damage.

All the image links I put up there didn’t work at all, that’s annoying.

Test

That’s the penguin one, the one I replaced the penguin one with redirected to the wrong link. somethings wrong with Fluther, or how I coded it. Thanks for removing it

[Mod Says:] Above removal was at the request of user.

People can legally own swords in the US.

But, can I carry it down the street?

@mowens Live steel? No. Nor can you carry a loaded firearm in public without a permit in most cases.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Can you get a sword permit?

@Samurai Where I live you can buy a sword without a permit.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Ah, I see. I heard your actually allowed to walk around with a sword in public as long as its not concealed and by your side. There are some place prohibitions (e.g., public buildings, schools, etc.). That’s in CA anyways, I know in Japan you aren’t.

Does the right to bear arms include tactical nuclear warheads?

Since the purpose of the 2nd amendment was to maintain a well regulated militia. I don’t think a militia would be well regulated with swords so I don’t think it counts unless you are highlander. Take boxing your room mate is a nerd.

It’s not generally illegal to carry swords in public, except in areas with rules against them.
The police might ask you what you are up to, but if you can give a safe-and-sane-seeming answer, you should be ok.

Er, especially sheathed swords. Drawing a sword or menacing someone with one, can get you shot by the police. In fact, some (not sure how many) police procedures call on them to shoot anyone brandishing a sword within a certain distance from the officer, which is often actually pretty far (like 20 feet).

That’s not a knife… (pulls out bowie knife) now that’s a knife.