This is the point I was trying (and failing) to make in another thread yesterday. The 2A doesn't grant us the right to defend ourselves. All it does is formally put the government on notice and make them agree in writing that we can and will.
Put that way I agree with you. The document itself is not the threat of self-defense. It is the written notice.
Exactly. I look at it as a brief conversation:
The People: We will defend ourselves from you and we want you to understand that.
The Government: Understood. We hear what you're saying and acknowledge it.
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