Ancient Greek in action: reading the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

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.

The preceding sentence is the complete text of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. It has two verbal expressions: a main clause, and a subordinate verbal idea expressed with a participle.

This sentence is a tragic illustration that syntax matters. The Founding Fathers used an absolute participle in imitation of Latin and Greek style. Unlike a subordinate clause with a conjunction giving it an explicit meaning (“because”, “when”, “if”…), the meaning of the participial expression is open ended.

Draw up a list of every possible relation you can think between the participial phrase and the main clause. How would you decide what the authors of the Second Amendment had in mind?