Good read!However It sounds like they have violated that act several times already.

The comments by individuals say that "the text of the post written above - which is filled with nonsense"

I am not even remotely familiar with the Laws of the US, but I would imagine that a law made by the Govt can be repealed by the Govt at a later date. As the same guy said (who wrote the comment above): "I have no doubt that Obama would ignore the second amendment and outlaw private ownership of guns if it was politically feasible."

The fact is that the constitution spells out what the militia is, how it is to be funded, trained and what it's uses are limited to. That is in the body of the constitution. The second amendment is a reminder of the need for a state militia and that it is an individual right to keep and bear arms for the defense of the states ans those same individuals.

Here is the complete text of the US constitution:

This text contains the Constitutiion of the United States of America in it's
entirety as of July 4th 1971. To the best of my ability I have copied this Text ver
batum from reliable information contained in Funk & Wagnalls New Comprehensive
International Dictionary of the English Language, Encyclopedic Edition. I have used
the original spellings as taken from the document and duplicated the capitalization
of words as contained in the original. You will note that after the original
Constitution the writers of the amendments had a very different style. If you have
any corrections to this document please send them to me along with Documentation to

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The United States Constitution









We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.





Article I.
Sect. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House
of Representatives.

Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members
chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the
Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for
Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.
Representative and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several
States which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of
Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons.
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first
Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent
Term of ten Years in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number
of Representative shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each
state shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration
shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one,
Connecticut five, New-York six, New-Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,
Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North-Carolina five, South-
Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the
Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such
Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other
Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Sect. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each State chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years
and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes.
The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the
Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of
the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth
Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies
happen by Resignation, or otherwise during the Recess of the Legislature
of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until
the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of
thirty years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall
be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no Vote unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro
tempore, in the Absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise
the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside:
And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of
the Members present.
Judgement in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from Office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of
honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment
and Punishment, according to law.
Sect. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature
thereof: but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such
Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law
appoint a different Day.

Sect. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and
Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute
a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day,
and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such
Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its
Members for disorderly Behaviour, and with the Concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their judgment
require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any
question shall, at the Desire of one-fifth of those Present be entered on
the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress shall, without the Consent
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place
than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Sect. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation
for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury
of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and
Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at
the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from
the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either house, they shall not be
questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the
United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof
shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any
Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during
his Continuance in Office.

Sect. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of
Representative; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on
other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the
Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of
the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall
return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have
originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of
that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with
the Objections, to the other House, by which is shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become
a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined
by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the
Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any
Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a
Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their
Adjournment prevent its Return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of
Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and
before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and
House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations
prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Sect. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties,
Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence
and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and
Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
To Borrow Money on the Credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States,
and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the
subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix
the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and
current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas,
and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules
concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no appropriation of Money to that Use
shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval
Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the
Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and
for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the
United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of
the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the
discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such
District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular
States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government
of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places
purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the States in which the
Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards,
and other needful Buildings; -And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this
Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department
or Officer thereof.

Sect. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may
require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion
to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue
to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or
from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the
Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time
to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no
Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without
the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, Office, or
Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Sect. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation;
grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make
any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any
Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of
Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or
Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for
executing its inspection Laws; and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts,
laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the
Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the
Revision and Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage,
keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or
Compact with another state, or with a foreign Power, or engage in war, unless
actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Article II.
Sect. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of
four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
term, be elected as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may
direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no
Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit
under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot
for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the
same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the Persons
voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of
the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be
counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the
President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors
appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have
an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall
immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President: and if no Person
have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House
shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the president,
the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State
having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or
Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States
shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the
President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors
shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of the chusing the Electors, and
the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United
States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be
eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible
to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five
Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or his Death,
Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said
Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may
by Law provide for the case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability,
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall
then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the
Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a
Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the
Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of
them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the
following Oath or Affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my
Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."

Sect. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy
of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when
called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the
Opinion, in writing of the principal Officer in each of the executive
Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for
Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,
to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and
he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,
shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of
the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose
Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by Law. But the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of
such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in
the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen
during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall
expire at the end of their next Session.

Sect. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of
the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary
Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of
Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws
be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the officers of the
United States.

Sect. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the
United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and
Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article III.

Sect. 1. The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one
supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time
to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and
inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall,
at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation which shall not
be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Sect. 2.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising
under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;-to all Cases
affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, and Consuls;-to all Cases
of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;-to Controversies to which the
United States shall be a Party;-to Controversies between two or more
States, between a State and Citizens of another State;-between Citizens of
different States, between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under
Grants of different States, and between a State or the Citizens thereof,
and foreign States, Citizens, or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls,
and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have
original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the
supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact,
with such Exceptions and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury;
and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have
been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be
at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Sect. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War
against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two
Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no
Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except
during the Life of the Person attained.

Article IV.

Sect. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the
public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And
the Congress may, by general Laws, prescribe the Manner in which such
Acts, Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Sect. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and
Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who
shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand
of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up,
to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation
therein, be discharged from such Service or Labor, but shall be delivered up
on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labor may be due.

Sect. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no
new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other
State, nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or
parts of States, without the Consent of the legislatures of the States
concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and
Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the
United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so Construed as to
Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Sect. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a
Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion;
and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when
the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

Article V.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary,
shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of
the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a
Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be
valid, to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by
conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of
Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment
which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the ninth
section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent,
shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of
this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which
shall be made in Pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall
be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the
several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of
the United States and of the several States, shall be bound, by Oath or
Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be
required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United
States.

Article VII.

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient
for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying
the Same.

DONE in Convention, by the Unanimous Consent of the States present, the
Seventeenth Day of September, in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the Twelfth In WITNESS whereof, We have hereunto subscribed our Names.

Attest:
William Jackson, Secretary
George Washington
President and deputy from Virginia

NEW HAMPSHIRE
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman

MASSACHUSETTS
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King

NEW YORK
Alexander Hamilton

NEW JERSEY
William Livingston
David Brearley
William Paterson
Jonathan Dayton

PENNSYLVANIA
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robert Morris
George Clymer
Thomas Fitzsimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris

DELAWARE
George Read
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom

MARYLAND
James McHenry
Dan of St. Thomas Jennifer
Daniel Carroll

VIRGINIA
John Blair
James Madison, Jr.

NORTH CAROLINA
William Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson

SOUTH CAROLINA
John Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler

GEORGIA
William Few
Abraham Baldwin



AMENDMENTS

1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

2nd Amendment
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed.

3rd Amendment
No Soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without
the consent of the Owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be
prescribed by law.

4th Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated; and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported
by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched and the persons or things to be seized.

5th Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous,
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in
actual service, in time of War, or public danger; nor shall any person be
subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or
limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness
against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.

6th Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law; and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

7th Amendment
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no
fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the
United States than according to the rules of the common law.

8th Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

9th Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

10th Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people.

11th Amendment
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend
to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the
United States by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects of
any foreign state.

12th Amendment
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists of
all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-
President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall
sign, and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of
the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President
of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be
counted;-the person having the greatest number of votes for President
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number
of Electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then, from
the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list
of those voted for a President, the House of Representative shall choose
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the
votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having
one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not
choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them,
before the fourth day of March next following the Vice President shall
act as President, as in case of death, or other constitutional disability
of the President.-The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of
the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have a majority,
then, form the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose
the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators; a majority of the whole number shall be
necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.

13th Amendment
Sect. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.
Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

14th Amendment
Sect. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and
of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law, nor deny any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to
vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive
and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way
abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis
of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Sect. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or
elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having
previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the
United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive
or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may,
by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States,
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and
bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not
be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume
or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion
against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of
any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held
illegal and void.
Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article.

15th Amendment
Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

16th Amendment
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States
and without regard to any census or enumeration.

17th Amendment
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator
shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate,
the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the
people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.

18th Amendment
Sect. 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture,
sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof
into, or the exportation thereof from the United
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage
purposes is hereby prohibited.
Sect. 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Sect. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the
several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years of the
date of the submission hereof to the States by Congress.

19th Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

20th Amendment
Sect. 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon
on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives
at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would
have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their
successors shall then begin.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.
Sect. 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President,
the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect
shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before
the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect
shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as
President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by
law provide for the case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice
President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as
President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and
such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President
shall have qualified.
Sect. 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of
any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a
President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and
for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may
choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved
upon them.
Sect. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October
following the ratification of this article.
Sect. 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by three-fourths of the
several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

21st Amendment
Sect. 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United
States is hereby repealed.
Sect. 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or
possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of
intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby
prohibited.
Sect. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as
provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date
of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

22nd Amendment
Sect. 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more
than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted
as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person
was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more
than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the
office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and
shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President,
or acting as President, during the term within which his Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as President
during the remainder of such term.
Sect. 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the
several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the States
by the Congress.

23rd Amendment
Sect. 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States
shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representative in Congress to which the District
would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least
populous State; they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election
of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and
they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the
twelfth article of amendment.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

24th Amendment
Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors
for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in
Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.

25th Amendment
Sect. 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his
death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Sect. 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice
President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take
office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Sect. 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speakers of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the
contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President
as Acting President.
Sect. 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as
Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and
duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the
powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and
duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either
the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body
as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President
pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the
powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the
issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in
session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after Congress is
required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that
the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,
the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting
President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of
his office.

26th Amendment
Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of age.
Sect. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

Thanks for that Paul...methinks I will be reading this over and over for sometime to get my head around it mate.