A Modern Proposition
The Right of the People to Keep and Operate Vehicles
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The proposition:
A well regulated Transportation System, being necessary to the economic security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and operate Vehicles, shall not be infringed.
It’s essential to examine this single sentence proposition in detail, so we can fully understand what it means. The entire proposition is conveniently divided into four sections by commas. The first part of the sentence sets the scope of the proposition by specifying the objective, a well regulated transportation system. This phrase is immediately followed by some context around the importance of the objective. We find out that this proposition recognizes the importance of a transportation system to the economic well-being and security of the State.
Moving to the third segment of the proposition, we see the focus shift to identifying important elements supporting the main objective. In this case, the right of people to own and operate vehicles is identified as a critical component. The last segment neatly wraps up the entire proposition by prohibiting interference with the rights necessary to support the main objective of a well regulated transportation system.
These segments are all equally important in the structure of the proposal. They work in tandem to provide a clear view of the objective, why it is important, fundamental rights critical to achieving the objective, and a directive to preserve those rights. The prescribed rights don’t exist in the absence of a well regulated transportation system.
The importance of a transportation system is clear. Food must be delivered from farm to market, and people drive to the market to shop. Construction materials must be delivered to building sites, and laborers need to report to the job site each day to construct new homes and buildings. School buses and parents with cars ensure our children get to school each day. None of this would happen without the right to keep and operate vehicles.
A transportation system is clearly vital to the economic security of our local communities. But we now come to two key words in the proposition, ‘well regulated.’ Roads must be built and maintained for our transportation system to…
