I understand the problem with the argument. The opponents of the Bill of Rights made a similar point. That's why the 9th Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights - to establish that though some rights were codified into law, they are not a complete list of constitutional rights. Other rights are implied.
Had the Bill of Rights been defeated, then the judiciary would have defined what was and was not an individual right according to what the judges thought was important. Keep in mind that virtually all Supreme Court justices are products of Harvard, Yale, or Stanford law schools. Those law schools are not teaching their students to respect the right to bear arms. Hell, I went to Baylor Law School, and our faculty was at best indifferent to the right to bear arms. If it wasn't codified, the overwhelming majority of judges today would have absolutely no respect for it at all. A national firearm ban would be perfectly constitutional. Personally, I think that would be a bad and dangerous thing.
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Last edited: Apr 12, 2018