re: #129 William Lewis

The explanation of how they saw the 2nd to be fulfilled can be found in the Militia Acts of 1792. The key elements are in the 2nd Act:

Every member of the militia, in other words, was expected to purchase at his own expense a military class rifle - the equivalent of what would today be an AR-15 - and a standard load of ammunition. This was expected to be used in defense of the nation, not against it. If you were to rise up, the constitution and the militia acts spelled out how the government would call out the military forces of the nation (the Militia and the Navy) to suppress you.

One detail—rifles were pretty rare and specialized sniper weapons at that time. The vast majority would have had muskets.