South Dakota Republican State Rep. Hal Wick has proposed a "gun mandate" as a way to show that the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate is unconstitutional. Jack Balkin responds by pointing out that the "gun mandate" is actually an "example of what the federal government could require citizens to do at the founding," citing the 1792 Militia Act mandating citizens purchase weapons and ammunition:
The requirement to join the militia (and purchase arms for the defense of the state) was an aspect of civil republicanism-- the political idea that citizens had a duty to work toward the public good and make sacrifices on behalf of their fellow citizens and the republic (the res publica, or public thing). Hence citizens were automatically made part of the militia, and this mean that they might be called upon to lay down their lives for their fellow citizens and the republic. The country was founded on this civil republican ideal as well as a belief in individual liberty and democratic self government.
What's the originalist case against laws signed by George Washington?
