“I’m just a blue-collar kid from Zeeland, Michigan,” retired Calvin English professor James Vanden Bosch said, “but I have become well-versed on the grammar of the absolute phrase in the late 18th century.”
An absolute phrase modifies the entire clause that it belongs to. The phrase typically provides additional detail to that clause.
Grammatically, the “something being necessary” absolute phrase was quite common during the period when the Constitution was written. It was often used to provide explanatory material for the main clause to which it was attached.
Taking the absolute phrase into proper account, the 2nd Amendment ensures that states could maintain armed militias. It did not comment on an individual’s right to keep any kind of gun in any place at any time.
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