Of Arms and the Law

Navigation
About Me
Contact Me
Archives
XML Feed
Home


Law Review Articles
Firearm Owner's Protection Act
Armed Citizens, Citizen Armies
2nd Amendment & Historiography
The Lecture Notes of St. George Tucker
Original Popular Understanding of the 14th Amendment
Originalism and its Tools


2nd Amendment Discussions

1982 Senate Judiciary Comm. Report
2004 Dept of Justice Report
US v. Emerson (5th Cir. 2001)

Click here to join the NRA (or renew your membership) online! Special discount: annual membership $25 (reg. $35) for a great magazine and benefits.

Recommended Websites
Ammo.com, deals on ammunition
Scopesfield: rifle scope guide
Ohioans for Concealed Carry
Clean Up ATF (heartburn for headquarters)
Concealed Carry Today
Knives Infinity, blades of all types
Buckeye Firearms Association
NFA Owners' Association
Leatherman Multi-tools And Knives
The Nuge Board
Dave Kopel
Steve Halbrook
Gunblog community
Dave Hardy
Bardwell's NFA Page
2nd Amendment Documentary
Clayton Cramer
Constitutional Classics
Law Reviews
NRA news online
Sporting Outdoors blog
Blogroll
Instapundit
Upland Feathers
Instapunk
Volokh Conspiracy
Alphecca
Gun Rights
Gun Trust Lawyer NFA blog
The Big Bore Chronicles
Good for the Country
Knife Rights.org
Geeks with Guns
Hugh Hewitt
How Appealing
Moorewatch
Moorelies
The Price of Liberty
Search
Email Subscription
Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

 

Credits
Powered by Movable Type 6.8.8
Site Design by Sekimori

« High speed photography | Main | Carnival of Cordite »

Coxe, Madison and "healing strictures"

Posted by David Hardy · 17 October 2006 02:13 PM

One of the more significant indications of original intent on the Second Amendment is the newpaper article by Tenche Coxe, circulated while the First Congress was debating the Bill of Rights, and referring to the Second Amendment as protecting Americans' possession of "their private arms."

Madison wrote Coxe a thank-you note, saying, among other things, that the Constitution was already indebted to the "healing strictures of your pen."

I just happened to do a search for the contemporary meaning of "stricture" in that context, and found some uses:

In modern medical terminology, it usually means the narrowing of a passage, but this medical dictionary notes an earlier use: "A stricture is also anything that closely restrains or limits. Shakespeare used "stricture" in the sense of strictness, as in "A man of stricture and firm abstinence.""

Here's another use: "An adverse remark or criticism; censure."

It looks as if Madison's remark meant "healing criticism (presumably of the Constitution's detractors) or argument."

· Second Amendment wording

Leave a comment